Falling Up
by thedarkhasfallen
Summary: Post-apocalyptic nuclear war that wipes out Chris's world, the gang flees for a new world, our own. After a reunion and a series of eerily fair events, everything takes a turn for the horrifying end of the spectrum. ShadAmyOC, SonOC, OCXOC, Knuouge...
1. Prelude to Darkness

**Falling Up**

**Rated T: Mild Language and Violence**

**WARNING: Original Characters are in this story... BLAH...**

**Swift, Ace, and any other OCs that pop up are mine unless I state otherwise. RAWR**

**Sonic and related characters are property of Sega. No copyright infringement intended.**

Chapter 1: Prelude to Darkness

Everything was coming to a crashing halt faster than anyone had believed it would. The end of the world… the end of the dimension that had so graciously allowed the coexistence of Anthros and humans within its realms… And it was ending with a bang...

--

**Access: Restricted**

**Password: --**

**Access: Granted**

**Welcome to the GUN Archive**

**Report Number: --**

GUN Report 981208234…

_**Final Report of GUN Situation 981208234:**_

Collective Situation Accomplishment: Failed

_**Situation Status: Critical**_

_**Situation Completion: Minor**_

_**Agents KIA: Incalculable… Not enough information…**_

_**Last Death Toll: 3/30/04: 5,234,782 Agents… 201,382,475 Civilians Worldwide…**_

_**Enemy: Phoenix**_

_**Status: Fully Operational**_

_**Agents of Concern: Shadow T. Hedgehog, Rouge T. Bat, E-123 Omega**_

"_**Civilians" of Concern: Sonic T. Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles T. Echidna, Amy Rose, Swift T. Hedgehog, Dr. Robotonik, Decoe 101, Bocoe 102, Bokkun 103, Chris Thorndyke**_

_**Status of Concerns: Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Swift- Isolated Status**_

_**Dr. Robotonik, Decoe, Bocoe, Bokkun- MIA**_

_**Chris Thorndyke- Stable**_

_**Location of Isolated Status: Are-**_

_**WARNING: UNKNOWN USER DETECTED**_

_**99**_

_**WARNING: HACKER DETECTED**_

_**Taking Defensive Measures…**_

_**WARNING: NUCLEAR DEVICE DETECTED**_

_**Update: New Dimension Detected **_

_**Potential Life: 100**_

_**Status: Parallel**_

_**WARNING: HACKER DETECTED**_

_**Virus Scan Launched…**_

_**Support Capabilities: 10**_

_**WARNING: NUCLEAR DEVICE DETECTED**_

_**Life Types: Anthros/Humans**_

_**WARNING: POWER SURGE**_

_**Fqopg qvnoqbvgjloqhgnlqlaq**_

_**Ewqovn q12 H feewqfq2ibgoe**_

_**Ar229hoekldlah**_

_**GNINRAW: REKCAH DETCETED **_

_**Orienting…**_

_**WARNING: HACKER DETECTED**_

_**Dimension Accessibility: 10**_

_**Searching…**_

_**Deemed: Earth**_

_**Satellites: Luna (Moon)**_

_**WARNING: UNKNOWN USER DELETING FILES**_

_**Deleting…**_

…

_**00**_

_**Importing…**_

**WE ARE PHOENIX! NONE WILL STOP US! NONE CAN HIDE FROM US!!**

**SONIC CANNOT SAVE YOU NOW!**

**_Saving..._**

**_Saved_**


	2. You Hurt Me Bad, Girl

**A/N: Sorry for another God-dang prelude and stuff... XD This one will line up with chapter 4 better than chapter 3, though. I've got to build up to that. I wouldn't want my characters to meet in pitch-darkness XD lol. That'd be a little bit freaky...**

* * *

Chapter 2: You Hurt Me Bad, Girl

In the dimming twilight, his target's familiar form was blurring into the rising night. He couldn't help but grin a touch, only because she was smiling, and even though he wasn't the one creating the happiness. In fact, he absolutely despised the person she was with. She was perfect and the one she was with was disgustingly flawed. Although he had a burning desire to be the one at her side, he remained distant, peering at her through worn and near useless binoculars.

Although if one looked in the dictionary for the word 'stalker' his picture would most likely be beneath the definition, it never crossed his mind that he was the epitome of a stalker. Even if he watched her every night… Even if he followed her home on occasion… Even if he lingered by her window until she shut the blinds, watching and waiting for the perfect moment to strike and take her from her perceived perfection to show her the true meaning of 'perfect'.

And he promised himself, as the sun graced her slender and beautiful frame one last time before slipping into infinity, that he would be the one to create that single, irrevocable scratch in the armor of her perfection.

_Ace… soon you'll play that card, but for now, stick to the research involving Plan B… Although, failure will not happen, its always good to have back-up…_

He made the decision to return early that night. No following his target home that evening. He blew a kiss to his damsel in 'distress' and ran his fingers through his yellow quills, brushing the faint scent of the ocean from them.

"Soon, my sweet, I'll rescue you from your ugly dragon. And then, you shall be mine… forever mine…" He said softly as the last of the sea breeze floated across the beach and choked down his words.

As he turned his back and slid down the dune in perfect control, the night leapt upon him and swallowed his body in pure darkness.


	3. 1800SUICIDE The Beginning of The End

**A/N: Fina-freakin'-ly, a long chapter! XD This will explain some stuff, though you won't fully get the whole "Phoenix" thing until the next chapter when I go all flashback on ya'll! DX Oh my freakin' lord! That'll be insane... Anyways, you'll have to wait until I post the next chapter to fully understand everything. Sorry for the confusion, but it's how I roll XD. Just kidding. But yeah, sorry.**

Chapter 3: 1-800-SUICIDE (It's The Beginning of The End)

A gentle sea breeze picked up and played with her white sundress, making it billow out behind her as the navy hedgie with ebony streaks not unlike Shadow's ruby streaks strode confidently to the west end of the beach, away from the smaller houses and businesses.

_Jeez, it sure is quiet around here. St. George Island, Florida… perfect for staying low-key when the world is at a standstill and any move you make can stir the water. _She thought irritably.

Kicking a clod of sand out of her way, she padded on. As her thoughts continued to meander, she strayed a little too far away from the house she and her brother were sharing for her to be comfortable. Noting the change in the once soothing atmosphere, she turned on her Jet Shoe covered heel and strolled back in the direction from which she came.

_Why, if we are trying to be inconspicuous, is he making me go out and have a "nice dinner"?_ She added after a moment of thought.

She took up one edge of the dress and fingered it nervously as her thoughts cemented her feet to the sand.

_I don't even know why I'm wearing this dress. I suppose it's to make him happy since he's been through a crap-load and all. But still, what the heck am I doing wearing this? It's totally screwing with my image around town as the visiting tough girl… I certainly don't want any member of the male species breathing down my neck. _She huffed and tossed the fabric away, returning it to the wind's fingers.

With that, she carried on, this time her step a little more heavy.

--

On the other side of the island, a certain famous hedgehog was having some freedom-threatening issues suddenly run up and seize him by the throat. Sonic the Hedgehog slowly backed away from a wedding gown clad Amy Rose…

--

Sonic

"Sonic! You promised!" She wailed, bouquet of white carnations cradled in her arms.

"When? I don't remember promising you anything!" I cast a panicked leer Knuckles's way, who merely shrugged in response.

"Well, you technically didn't have to promise me anything, since this is arranged anyway." She said smugly, certain to finally have her mouse caught in her claws.

"_Arranged_!? By who?" I backed into the bamboo wall of the Blue Parrot, well-known restaurant on the island for its burgers and hotdogs, my target before Amy had attacked me.

"Sally Acorn's organizing it. You should know about it." She scolded, wagging a finger at me.

"Why would Sally, of all people, arrange a marriage between us when she knows good and well that I have NO ATTRACTION towards you!?" I barked, trying desperately to save myself and find an escape.

"Y-you don't?" Amy's lips turned south at the remark and began to quiver, signaling me that I was now treading on thin ice.

"Nope." I said with a twinge of sympathy hidden deep within my voice. With a quick nod towards Knuckles, I leapt onto the roof of the Blue Parrot.

"Sonic!! You'd better get back down here!" Amy threatened, tossing the bouquet over her shoulder and hoisting her Piko-Piko hammer to her side.

"I don't think he's coming any time soon." Knuckles remarked under his breath, turning away from the verbally dueling hedgies.

"Shut up, knucklehead!" Amy spun and slammed her hammer down over Knuckles's head. Knuckles reeled from the impact and staggered backwards into the trashcan. Taking the distraction to my advantage, I slid down the back of the building and took off running to the east, far away from threats of matrimony and standing still.

Moments later, I slowed down to a jog, still a blur to most passersby.

_Now that I've lost her, maybe I can find something interesting to do until she gives up for the night and I can get my hands on a chilidog. _

I jogged even slower as I scanned the beach for anything eye-catching. Suddenly, a familiar scent wafted into my 'personal bubble' and I skidded to a stop, kicking up tons of sand in the process. Nostrils flaring, I stood on my tiptoes, trying to locate the source of the smell and put a name with it. Then, the sea breeze died down, enabling me to distinguish the distinct vanilla musk from the typical salty air. A name long since pushed into the back of my mind popped up once more.

_Shadow._ I thought deviously. _It's about time we had a friendly spar anyway._

My signature grin slowly spread across my face as I thought of the upcoming battle with my long-lost rival. I sped away once again, this time making a beeline for a fight instead of away from it.

"Oh I _really_ hope you've leveled your training up 'cause I _really_ don't want a wussy-fight!" I called out in challenge and launched myself in a deadly blue missile at my opponent. At that instant however, I picked up something different in the scent, a baking soda type of tag to it.

"What the-?" My target whipped around to face me, revealing navy blue quills with black highlights, that same white patch of fur on the chest, and fiery caramel eyes.

"Shoot!" I yelped and urgently countered into a backspin, trying to equalize the direction enough to allow me to uncurl while in midair.

"Who the-?" The navy hedgehog asked, a slightly puzzled and delighted look on her face as she dove to the right. Still, because I am the fastest thing alive, I clipped the navy hedgie in the leg as she made her escape. She spun out, plowing into the sand. In a split second, she was on her feet again. "Chaos Control." She muttered, spitting sand. She disappeared in a flash of green.

"Oh crap." I warily glared around, searching for the navy hedgie I had mistakenly attacked.

"Now you've done it!" She yelled and reappeared above me. She curled up and gave me a taste of her own Homing Attack. I dodged, but she still managed to sideswipe me enough to knock me off balance.

"Dang." I slid as she back flipped away, both of us sliding away a few feet. She crouched, one hand steadying her landing as both feet hit the ground. She launched into a Spin Dash seconds later, but I jumped up into the air, narrowly avoiding the ball of navy and black moving towards me at blinding speeds. I then reverted to another Homing Attack, plowing into the challenger square in the chest as she turned to attack again, forcing her back to the ocean. As I backed off a few feet to give myself some distance for another attack, I was able to get a better look at the girl. As my eyes scanned her slender figure, three voices went off in my head at the same time.

_Hurry up and attack before she catches her breath. _One wailed._ Good God, she's pretty. _Another breathed. _Wait! There's something familiar about her!_ The last screamed.

Suddenly, the other hedgehog held up her right hand.

"Wait… Sonic?" She called, a slight southern accent to her voice. (Though nothing compared to Bunnie's Texas type accent… No, her's was more… North Georgia XD)

"Yeah." I answered, loosening up as she spoke, her voice becoming more and more familiar by the second.

"I'm not gonna fight you." She said shakily, standing erect again, but with a more wary air about her.

"Okay then." I shrugged and closed the distance between us. I stopped about a foot from the girl, running a quick glance over her again. She was wearing a white sundress, which seemed out of place and perfectly in place at the same time, torn of course from the quick spar. "Wait a sec!" I exclaimed, jumping up a bit.

"Now do you remember me? God, you're worse than my brother after he fell." She sighed with exasperation.

"Swift!" I yelped suddenly, enveloping the girl in a bear hug Amy would have been proud of. "Dude, I missed you so much!" I shouted, burying my face in her shoulder.

"Apparently-… not…" Swift laughed, short of breath. After a minute like that, Swift's cheeks started turning blue from lack of oxygen. "You… wanna… get… off… now… so… I… can… breathe…?" She said weakly. I released her, a whimsical smile growing on my muzzle.

"Where've you been all my life?" I asked, laughing as I did so.

"What the heck? We've been friends since forever ago!" She exclaimed back. As I cast a nervous 'I-gotta-go' look behind me, Swift traced around a seashell that was imbedded in the sand with her shoe. "So, how's everyone been?" She inquired after a few seconds.

"Well, Rouge has kinda disappeared; Tails has a job supplying weapons, new and old, to GUN; Amy is currently chasing after me, saying Princess Sally arranged marriage between us; Knuckles has been paling around with me, globe-trekking since nobody's made a grab for the Master Emerald in freakin' forever; and me… well, I'm just me." I explained, grin growing huge as I told her of myself.

"Sounds fun… What's with Sally arranging that between you and Amy though?" She frowned slightly at the circumstances.

"Don't know, but I'm going to head to Mobius to figure it out soon." My determined face told Swift I was ready to go that minute. "So, what's going on in your life?" I returned his attention to my friend. "By the way, stop wearing that baking soda deodorant crap. It messes up my nose." I wrinkled my nose to show her.

"Sorry about that, Shadow just doesn't think it's a good idea for me to distinguish myself from him. Ya know, since guys will leave me alone if I smell like one." Swift explained, rubbing the back of her head nervously.

"Well, it's been a long time since I've smelled… or seen you as a matter of fact. I think I may have forgotten exactly what twinge you had to that vanilla musk when you weren't wearing that deodorant crap." I admitted, looking her over again as if seeing her for the first time.

"Hmm… wouldn't surprise me. Shadow's always made me do this." Swift's bright grin lit up her face.

"How's he these days?" I inquired curiously.

"Pissed off at the world, as usual. We've been doing some planet-trekking, sort of like your globe-trekking I suppose. We just have a bigger area to cover." She smiled again and I couldn't help but smile too. "We were looking for the remnants of dear old dad's empire." Swift rolled her caramel eyes and folded her arms over her chest.

"I take it he screwed up a lot more planets than good ol' Earth." I smirked deviously.

"Yup. 15 planets later and Shadow's got 12 different galactic warrants out for his arrest and three for his execution." Swift now wore a concerned frown.

"What the heck's he doing? Genocide? Mass murder? Heck I don't know, speeding?" I stared disbelievingly at the navy girl.

_What have they been doing out there?_

"Mostly for grand theft auto. I mean, super-speed isn't exactly inconspicuous… otherwise, he's in trouble for interfering in mating matters." She huffed, casting a casual glance over her shoulder.

"What's he doing, pulling high school kids from their cars or something?" I remained incredulous.

"No, just violently murdering every guy that tried to flirt with me, so I guess its aggravated assault." Swift shrugged and looked away nervously.

"Protective much?" I asked sarcastically, halfway expecting Shadow to pop up at that instant and give me a nice Chaos Spear for even speaking to Swift.

"He can't really help it… After all, I'm all he's got left." Swift smiled meekly and looked down at the sand.

"Oh." I responded passively. I never really expected _that_ much out of Shadow.

"He knows stuff about… me… and others… that we probably don't know about ourselves." Swift changed from the ambitious side to the shy side, the side she only showed when she wasn't comfortable. I took note of the change, but couldn't stop pressing on.

"How so?"

"I don't really know… he just… knows… It's kinda creepy… I guess he's just good enough with psychology that he knows what to look for and how to pick up on certain things." She explained reluctantly.

"What kind of stuff?" I inquired, despite the pleading look from Swift.

"He knows what people are going to do before they do it." She said, too shortly for my liking.

"Like what? Seeing the future?"

"No, like body movement, stance, eye contact. He's getting to the point where he can pick out a random person and be like "that dude's getting ready to ask a girl out." Sure enough two seconds later, the guy he picked out is asking a girl out. It's freaking me out." Swift shuddered and looked to the ocean for some sort of comfort.

"But, you have nothing to hide from him." I tilted my head curiously.

"I do… nothing illegal or that will get us in trouble… just…" She hesitated completely and looked as though she may bolt at any second.

"What?" I pressed.

"Feelings…" She sighed in defeat and turned her head back to glare at me.

"That's it?" I asked incredulously. Swift nodded her reply. "Okay then." I turned away and started walking back in the direction I had come from.

Swift

I bit my lip nervously, contemplating a decision that, knowing Sonic, could set off a whole adventure.

_I'll be damned if I miss another chance._

I narrowed my eyes determinedly and strode forward gracefully in long strides until I stopped in front of Sonic, hindering his progress, and changed my expression to a more neutral one. Sonic cocked his head at me again.

"You wanna come back to our place? Ya know, wait until the pink storm has died down a bit." I asked, nodding towards the town to indicate Amy. Sonic's emerald eyes sparked slightly at the offer and I swore his tail started wagging. I stared at the ocean emptily and watched it roll while Sonic came up with a reply.

"Sure! What the hell, it's been forever." Sonic shrugged and grinned brightly at me as I did a double take, signifying that I had expected a decline. Eagerly, I struck up a quick pace that Sonic easily matched as we changed directions towards the end of the island that Sonic had previously been evacuating in and I had been returning to.

"Well, this should be interesting." I smirked after a moment of silence between us.

"What do you think Shadow's reaction will be?" Sonic quizzed nervously, twiddling his thumbs as he walked.

"Heh… Surprised glare in my direction probably. Heck, he'll probably glare at you for a second too." I said thoughtfully.

"That's _it?_ I'm expecting him to explode." Sonic snickered and cast a sideways glance at me.

"Nah. He knows it'll make me happy." I continued much less thoughtfully. When Sonic gave me an astonished look, I chuckled nervously and added, "It's just been the two of us for freakin' forever. It's nice to see a new, friendly face."

"Oh… So, you don't think he'll explode?" Sonic asked sarcastically.

"Not at all." I replied confidently, staring straight ahead. "I think you'll be surprised. Shadow's opened up a lot since we cracked our skulls trying to get through that last thing." I pondered for a second.

"Yeah… I remember that a little too well for my taste. I think I'd rather get amnesia like Shadow did when he fell than have to relive it in a nightmare every once in a while." Sonic's brow descended in irritation.

"You too, huh? I get dreams like that every so often. Scares the crap out of me every time too. It's just so vivid… like I'm there again."

"Watching Eggman give up his life so the rest of us can get through… And then, there was Shadow. He didn't want to give it up, did he?"

"Of course not. But, what's a trio of super-sugarhigh hedgehogs going to do against the world's supply of nuclear warheads?" I asked rhetorically.

"I still think we could have won…" Sonic muttered, thinking back.

"You always do." I sighed heavily.

"You did too." Sonic glanced over at me critically. I jerked my head over at him with a challenging glare. We stared at each other for a second, but dropped it to either side. Sonic cleared his throat and I angled myself towards him expectantly. "Any news on… who else-."

"Chris made it through, perfectly fine and alive, though more emotionally scarred than beforehand." I answered his incomplete question, surprising Sonic a bit.

"Where's he settled in now?" Sonic asked anxiously, eyes pleading.

"Cali. This Earth's version of Station Square." I looked up, opening my mouth a touch as I stretched my neck.

"That's nice to know." Sonic said quietly. "Any news on the 'Rising Flame'?" He asked, his face darkening considerably as the words left his mouth.

"Shadow and I haven't found any traces of Phoenix past other Earth's atmosphere." My mood considerably depressed and my lips turned down. "Are you definantly sure that Eggman shut down the World Gate between old Earth and Mobius?"

"As sure as I can be. I mean, we don't know what happened after Eggman sealed us in." Sonic said thoughtfully, looking out at the shimmering ocean as it reflected the aggressive afternoon sky's image. "Is the new World Gate set up?" Sonic continued to probe.

"Yup. Went through it myself to test it out." I answered proudly. "Chris and his grandfather did a nice job, in my opinion." I added to explain my pride.

"Good, 'cause we're going through it soon." Sonic grinned brightly, considerably more jovial at this. I merely smiled back; my mind was elsewhere.

After a few minutes of walking and catching up with each other, we approached the beach house Shadow and I were renting out for two weeks. As I turned to enter the house, Sonic's hand clasped down on my shoulder.

"I'm not so sure if I should-." He started to decline the invite.

"C'mon Sonic! Where's that adventurous attitude you're always boasting?" I grinned mischievously, knowing I had sealed him in.

"Aww… Dang Swift, you know exactly what will put me in your control." Sonic's voice said groan, but his face said grin.

"It's just something I picked up over the years." I closed my eyes and rubbed the back of my head. "Let's go and say hello to Shads!" I exclaimed and started up the stairs.

"Shads? Oh my God! That's hysterical!" Sonic burst out laughing, holding his peach tummy with one gloved hand.

"Yeah, but you better not call him that or he'll kill you before you've finished your sentence." I warned, instantly stopping his laughing fit.

"For some strange reason, I believe you." He went wide-eyed for a split second and then motioned for me to lead him into the house, a smirk forming on his face.


	4. Today Isn't 'Back In The Day' Anymore

Chapter 4: Today Isn't 'Back In The Day' Anymore

"Hey Shadow! I've brought someone you need to kill over!" I shouted to the seemingly empty house, my voice bouncing off of shiny and dark hardwood floors and bright white ceilings.

"What?!" Sonic exclaimed and attempted to barrel through me and out the door. I grabbed his arms and forced them behind his back as I turned him to face the hallway.

"Trust me." I whispered in his ear as he turned his head to glare at me through wild eyes. "Trust me." I repeated even softer, pressing my head to his temple gently. With one last defeated glare, he stopped resisting and I released my hold on him.

"Oh really?" Shadow's voice meandered through the hall darkly to settle around our ears. Sonic's laid back nervously, while mine remained relaxed. "Well, I'll just grab my knife." His voice was threatening enough to make Sonic shiver and cast pleading looks back at me.

"It'll be okay. I promise." I muttered, taking his hand and pulling him behind me so that I stood between him and Shadow whenever he came in. Just before I released his hand, he squeezed mine gently. I turned my head slightly and smiled at him, then let go. Abruptly, Shadow strode into the hallway with a steak knife held at his side. He froze to the spot when he saw Sonic peering around my waist at him.

"You weren't kidding." Shadow muttered at me, eyes narrowing. He criticized the knife he held and then scowled at Sonic. "Shoulda brought a gun or something." He tossed the knife over his shoulder carelessly. It flipped through the air to stick deep in the hardwood floor.

_Shadow._ I warned briefly in my head, but I added a devilish smirk to the thought.

_I should have known the instant you two walked through the door. We haven't had anyone friendly come here._ He scolded himself lightly, but grinned in his head back. Feeling more reassured about his hospitability, I relaxed even more, noting in the back of my mind that one of the straps on my dress slipped a little down my shoulder.

"Well Sonic, it's certainly been a long time, eh?" Shadow approached us with a friendly demeanor and open smile.

"Sure, Shadow." Sonic quivered like a plucked harp string, ready to bolt the instant I tensed up.

"Now, is that any way to greet a best friend?" Shadow teased and stepped forward.

"Best friend?" Sonic cocked his head at Shadow. He had been forever referring to Shadow as his best friend, much to Shadow's dismay, but finally Shadow was accepting his role as BFF and Sonic didn't know what to make of it. Shadow neatly skirted around me to embrace Sonic. Sonic froze like ice.

"Shadow, stop. I think you've scared him enough for one day." I laughed heartily. Shadow let Sonic go, who sprinted behind me again, leaving Shadow pinned against the door.

"Who's up for a little gaming action while we catch up?" Shadow asked openly. He stepped around me again and strode off to the living room where he had come from.

"What in the world is wrong with him?" Sonic asked nervously.

"He's… glad to see you, I suppose." I shrugged.

_You're lying to him. I'm glad to see you happy._

_Shut it._

_Yes ma'am!_

_Shadow, we've been separated for a long time… I'm not even sure he still likes me like that._

_Didn't he tell you that he would love you no matter the distance?_

_Yeah, but I think we've got some bridges to rebuild._

_Fine with me. Just don't take too long. Your lonesome walks mess with my psyche._

_Hey!_

Abruptly, beachy music began floating delicately from the speakers mounted in various places around the house. The lofty air it brought sank in deep with my soul, despite what the very first line of the song said.

"_Well you done done me in your bed." What are you getting on at? _I snarled at Shadow.

_Perhaps I put on the wrong song then…_ Shadow said innocently.

_Ya think?!_

_What would have been appropriate?_

"_Crush", "Summertime", "Pocketful of Sunshine". Anything without a reference in the first line._

_It's only one little reference. Besides, it's the only real beachy song we have. The rest is rock… for the most part._

_We NEVER even got that far between us!_

_You know you were close._

_How would you know? I wanted to wait until we could get married on Earth and he said he'd wait as long as I wanted him to. _

_Earth is gone, you know._

_Wrong. This is Earth now. But, that's beside the point. I told you that he and I have to take our time. This separation just makes me more cautious. I don't know what he's feeling for me now._

_He still loves you like he did the night the world ended. Do you love him like that?_

_There's no question there and you know it. I love him more than my own life. What's telling you that he still loves me, anyway? Your recently acquired skill for sensing emotion?_

_Yup. _

_Besides, Sally's apparently arranged a marriage for him already… between him and Amy._

_That's bull! According to whom?_

_The pink madness herself. Sonic and I are going to Mobius to figure it out._

_When?_

_Dunno. Whenever Sonic gets antsy. _

_Maybe that'll help with your relationship problems. _

_Shadow, shut up before I bite your tongue off. _

_You should try that on Sonic._

_SHADOW!!_

_Well, I wouldn't bite his tongue OFF per say. Maybe give it a little nibble. _

_QUIT IT!!_

Halfway ready to kill Shadow, I strode into the living room with a silent growl pulling at my lips. Sonic tailed me nervously, peeking over my shoulder.

"Sonic, I think Shadow's done with his show of affection for a long time." I said through gritted teeth. Sonic gave me a reproachful glance before walking around me and plopping down on a yellow beanbag chair. Shadow, seated in the neighboring red beanbag chair, was thoroughly absorbed in the current BR match going on within our new Halo 3 game. Though the headset was on and connected to the wireless Xbox controller he held in his hands, he wasn't saying anything and was practically drooling as he depressed various buttons at high speeds. "I'm going to change." I huffed and pivoted on my heel to face the hallway. Waiting for a response, I impatiently tapped my foot on the floor. "And I reiterate, I'm going to change." I said testily.

"You get on that, Swift." Shadow flicked his mic off to speak to me. Muttering mild curses, I stomped off to my room and slammed the door, nearly snapping it off of its hinges.

Sonic

"That was a little mean, Shadow." I remarked regretfully, watching Swift's exit with unhappy discomfort.

"Get over it." Shadow growled, probably listening to Swift's angry rebukes in his head.

"Just stating a fact." I said innocently. He paused the game and turned around to face me.

"I may be your friend, but if you piss me off, I'll kill you." He stated calmly, but the threatening air was almost tangible. "That also includes the current thing you and Swift have." This time, his voice turned darkly protective.

"I don't need any reinforcement on that, Shadow." I replied fiercely. "I just think we need a little time to rebuild, that's all." I added more somberly. His face transformed from a hostile leer to a more hesitant frown as he analyzed my sincerity. I couldn't be more true with how I felt about the girl to him. Seeming satisfied with my answer, Shadow unpaused the game and continued to play.

A few minutes later, I heard the water turn on in the bathroom.

"Guess Swift decided to take a shower." I noted for lack of conversation.

"To cool down. She's a little pissed at me." Shadow winced slightly. Suddenly, a box at the bottom of the screen popped up reading 'Twin-Tailed Fiend has logged on'.

"Is that who I think it is?" I stared disbelievingly at the screen.

_It can't be Tails!_

"If you're thinking Tails, then yes." Shadow grinned and tossed me another controller. "Let's invite him in."

"Yeah." I couldn't believe it. I hadn't seen Tails since 10 months ago when Old Earth was turned into a nuclear wasteland. I slipped the headset on and logged in while Shadow set up the match. "Now?"

"One more second, I have to let him in." Shadow sent an invite to Tails to play on 'Avalanche' with us. Tails accepted and brought a guest with him. "You there, Tails?" Shadow asked into his microphone.

"Yeah, Shadow. Who's your guest?" Shadow smirked as I gaped numbly at Tails's voice.

"Oh, just someone I picked off the street. The name's Sonic." Tails's breathing froze on the other end.

"H-hey, Tails." I stuttered, wondering if Tails had kept the promise he made the day the world died.

"SONIC!! I can't believe it's you!" Tails shouted excitedly into his mic.

"Yeah, me either, Tails… Me either." I grinned brightly at Shadow, who just smiled and chuckled to himself.

"So who's your guest?" Shadow broke up the greetings.

"Well… You know how we thought we were the only Mobians that survived that thing?" Tails said nervously.

"Yeah." I looked away from the screen as I spoke, images from a world away reappearing in my head while my smile disappeared.

"Turns out Eggman went to the other World Gate in Central City before coming to the Station Square one. He used that technique he used during the ARK attack-" Shadow huffed, growled, and turned from the TV.

"Shadow's still a little sensitive about it. I assume he finally has that part of his memory back." I said on Shadow's behalf.

"Anyway, he used that to take over all of the screens in the area to order a mandatory evacuation through the gate. He set it to explode after my friend here set off the timed bomb." Tails explained.

"That still doesn't answer my question." Shadow growled.

"This is my little bro, Pyro." Tails said with little to no emotion.

_Little… brother?_

"You have a… little brother?" I nearly passed out.

_How could he have a little brother when he's my little bro?_

I couldn't make any sense of my surroundings. Shock enveloped me as I sat helplessly and at its whim. I couldn't get it through my head. Just then, the water turned off in the background. A few seconds after that, Swift walked out of her room in her usual black shorts and dark blue hoodie. Almost certainly, she was probably wearing her trademark v-neck gray Under Armour Heat Gear shirt beneath the hoodie. As she approached, my thoughts became clearer and more intelligible. Stepping around me to share my beanbag chair, she pulled the headset off of me gently and held the microphone to her mouth.

"What's going on? Tails? Pyro?" Her voice shook me out of it.

"We'll show you." For the first time, I heard Pyro's voice, much higher pitched than Tails's to no surprise.

"Nice pic." Shadow remarked as an image from Tails's Xbox camera popped up on screen. I instantly recognized Tails, though I had to assume that Tails's little brother was the smaller red two-tailed fox. Pyro had streaks of bright orange racing up both arms like Swift's charcoal and Shadow's ruby streaks and a white muzzle, chest, while the tips of his tails were the same orange as his arms.

"H-he looks almost exactly like you." I remarked hesitantly, still feeling mixed emotions about this new being as Swift handed the headset back to me.

"I know, right? We did DNA testing and stuff in LA, but we never really needed to. I knew from the instant he walked through the door." I imagined Tails grinning on the other end. Glancing back up at the picture, I noticed a long scar stretching the length of Pyro's body on his right side.

"Hey Sonic, why don't we leave Shadow to his Xbox?" Swift nudged me softly, probably picking up on my odd attitude.

"Y-yeah, sure." I stood up and began to walk for the back porch. Swift cast a reproachful glance at Shadow, then stepped outside. I looked back for a split second as Shadow teamed up with Tails and Pyro to search for a match to play in, and then followed Swift.

"So, where're we going?" I asked, grabbing my left foot and folding it behind me, then releasing it and doing the same with the other foot.

"For a walk." Swift, without stretching at all, began to walk down the stairs to the private boardwalk that led out to the beach. I ceased stretching instantly and allowed her to lead on the narrow wooden walkway, gazing appreciatively as I walked out to either side at the odd green wall of hedge on my left and the thick vegetation to my right, consisting of twisted and dying pine trees, hardy and green short palm varieties, and bushes bearing very prickly looking spurs. Within a few seconds, the vegetation cut off and, no longer hindered by barriers, the roar of the ocean crashing on the cream-colored sand ripped into our eardrums. Hopping down three steps, Swift and I stepped onto the soft sand and began walking to the east.

"So, Pyro's a little like Tails, huh?" I prodded, searching for conversation as I took my place on her right, placing her between the ocean and me.

"A little? They couldn't be more alike! The only defined difference is that Pyro tinkers around with more explosive things than Tails." Swift explained.

"You think he'll like me?" I asked nervously after a few seconds of silence.

"Pyro? There's no doubt in my mind. He loves Tails and anything that Tails loves. Therefore, Pyro will adore you." Swift thought aloud.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

More silence, other than the swishing of the sand displaced by our feet and the ocean throwing itself against the ground. The afternoon had shifted to evening; the sun was getting lower in the sky and the few families that were out on the island in the first place were packing it up for the night, while hardcore fishermen were digging stands for their poles into the sand and setting up their beach chairs. The decreasing light tinted the water sort of teal, while the flat-bottomed clouds dyed a grayish color.

"Hey Sonic?" Swift called my attention to her.

"Mmmm?"

"Do you think Amy was being serious?"

"Isn't she always? I mean, no matter what, she's riding me about marriage and kids, in spite of the fact that we never even went out for a single date."

"True."

"My turn again." I laughed. This little walk was turning into a questionnaire.

"Shoot."

"What really happened the last night?"

"Are you telling me you don't-."

"No. I just… I'm not sure I fully understand. I go over it five thousand and a half times every day, but I'm not sure I-."

"I'll show you." Swift said slowly, taking my hand and pulling us to a stop.

--

_"Westopolis has fallen to Phoenix." Knuckles said in an emotionless voice. He'd said so many things like that, he had built a shield to block out unnecessary feelings that might get in the way of his job. His job of keeping an ear on GUN's communications was starting to become as unnecessary as his feelings, however. We all knew it was going to be over in a matter of hours. The order in which the cities were lost didn't matter anymore. The only thing left with any meaning was the other hedgehog I held onto._

"_By fallen, do you mean-?" That black and blue hedgehog I was holding asked._

"_Demolished, destroyed, obliterated, take your pick." Knuckles spat, cracking a bit. Swift anguished, shrugging me away and pacing to the edge of the Blue Typhoon's landing pad. _

"_E-T-A?" I asked Tails._

"_Ten minutes. We'll be at Angel Island soon." Tails reassured me._

"_Remember, it's losing altitude because the Master Emerald's dying too." Knuckles said for the thousandth time. _

"_Got it." Tails acknowledged, knowing better than to bring this fact to Knuckles's attention during this time of crisis._

"_Anything on those warplanes?" Shadow hovered over Rouge in anticipation of a last stand, fully willing and ready to crack some skulls and go down trying._

"_They're breaking off. They know where we're going." Rouge said despairingly. I couldn't take listening to it anymore. I followed Swift out to the runway, stopping at her left._

"_Is it really over? So soon?" She asked no one in particular._

"_No. Not for you and Shadow, at least." I looked out over the water with an antsy glare. _

"_You know good and well I'm going out the instant you or Shadow does. After destroying everything first, of course." She grimaced, almost as if she knew how everything was going to play out._

Which wouldn't surprise me at all._ I thought meagerly._

_They knew what we were doing, where we were going. And quite frankly, they probably didn't care because they knew they were going to win._

"_Where's Egghead now?" Knuckles grumbled, desperate to pick at something._

"_I don't have a read on him at all. Either he's cloaking or we've got an Egg Down." Rouge tapped on the radar screen. With Swift zoned out on the sky in front of us, I looked down at the metal panels, and then ran upstairs and into the carrier. _

"_Shadow, it's time." Tails nodded to the black and red hedgehog. Shadow blinked at him, and then ran back down beside Swift._

"_Good luck, Sonic." Amy said quietly. _

"_Thanks, Ames. I'll need it." I dashed out the door and back to Swift's side. "You ready?" I asked her. _

"_As I'll ever be." She turned her head to me and gave me a smirk, one of her special gleams in her caramel irises._

"_Shadow?"_

"_Shut it and let's get on with it." He snarled, kicking at the floor. _

"_Vindictive." Swift grinned, showing her rather large canines, or rather, fangs, earning an extra growl from Shadow._

"_Alright then, in five, four, three… two… one." I grinned like a madman. _

"_My god, just GO!" Shadow shouted, leaping off of the landing deck of the Blue Typhoon without any hesitation. Swift and I watched him fall, straight down to the coast of the slowly descending Angel Island, breaking his own fall with a burst of Chaos._

_--_

"Were you okay with what Amy said?" I pulled my hand away from Swift's and put it on my hip.

"Yeah, I suppose. It's not like she walked up to you and starting making out with you or something." Swift shrugged, flipping a stray quill over her shoulder.

"Good point." I grabbed her hand again.

--

_"Now the only question is, Sonic… Are you ready?" Swift smirked deviously at me._

"_Bring it." I growled, stepping up onto her Jet Shoes. With one last two-fingered salute at the cockpit from each of us, we launched ourselves off of the deck and careened down to the island, Swift stopping our fall with a little boost from her Jet Shoes. _

"_So, all seven are here, right?" Shadow asked as I stepped off of Swift's shoes, returning to looking over her head by a mere inch rather than several. _

"_They should be. Remember, we gotta grab Knuckles's Master Emerald too." I replied, cracking my knuckles. _

"_Split up?" Shadow suggested._

"_Slice 'n dice." I grinned mischievously._

"_Shake 'n bake!" Shadow facepalmed himself. "Idiot." He added. _

"_Look, guys. Let's just get it over with, so we can argue about this later, 'kay?" Swift stepped between us, hands outstretched. _

"_Fine." The both of us agreed. Suddenly, static erupted from each of our pockets. All three of us pulled out earpieces at the same time and put them in. _

"_You don't have time to be arguing!" Tails shouted into our ears, causing each of us to cringe. "Those freakin' F-22s are coming back around!" He exclaimed angrily, his statement making each of us stare at each other in shock. "Get a move on!"_

"_You heard the pilot!" Swift shouted, sprinting off along the coast away from Shadow and I. We quickly nodded at each other, then shot off, Shadow to the mountains, me to the jungle. _

_--_

"I was blind, you know." I cut in.

"That's why Shadow and I knew to take three each, at least." She laughed.

"Skip all this. There's no point in watching me struggle." I huffed, looking away from her.

"Hey! You did a great job and you know it." She said encouragingly.

"Just get on with it." I shrugged her away, while grabbing her hand again.

--

_The Blue Typhoon was shot down before our eyes as Angel Island crashed to the rising ocean. Luckily, Tails had managed to organize them all into two escape pods, which was no small feat. Those pods slammed into the coast twenty miles from the top of the mountain where Shadow, Swift, and I stood. Each of the seven Chaos Emeralds rotated lazily around the three of us, while the Master Emerald sat behind us, glowing green in anticipation of its guardian's return. Meanwhile, the same F-22s that shot down the Blue Typhoon circled us like vultures._

_"They've found us." I huffed disappointedly._

_"We knew that from the get-go." Shadow sneered at me, invoking a low growl from me._

_"Quit it." Swift snarled. We instantly ceased fighting with each other. As we waited for the others to meet up with us, one helicopter flew down and hovered a few feet in front of us._

_"Evacuations are finished." A lone GUN official leaned from the open passenger area of the helicopter._

_"How many?" Shadow asked darkly._

_"There's no telling how many casualties at this point." The agent responded forebodingly._

--

"Did he really say it like that?" I asked.

"Yeah, and if I remember right, he refused to speak to either of us. He would only talk to Shads, which probably wasn't all that pleasant either." She frowned as she recalled the information.

"They still couldn't drop it all, even as the world was falling apart." I shook my head as I too remembered.

"Sad, isn't it?" Swift smiled sadly at me. "I'm skipping through this."

--

_"The bombs?" I prodded._

_"They're doing more damage than the enemy thought they would. They've lost hundreds, but they're still too strong."_

_"Why are you referring to The Phoenix as 'they'?" Swift growled._

_"SSHH!! Don't say that!"_

_"What? Are they the new Voldemort? A new Taboo?" She hissed, sizzling like eggs on a hot blacktop._

_"Yes. There have been direct orders among us not to say their name." The agent said back in an orderly manner, not looking directly at either of us._

_"That's bull." She huffed under her breath, pacing off away from the helicopter to cool down._

_"So, what about the radiation levels?" I asked edgily._

_"Here's a map of their intensity and the log in for updates. Don't expect it to work for too long, they'll probably melt within the hour." The agent told Shadow, passing him a sheet of paper and a handheld computer. Shadow merely nodded as the officer pulled himself back into the helicopter. It took off and left us to defend what was left of the planet on our own._

_"That's it!" Swift exclaimed. "He came over here for that?!"_

_"I guess." Shadow said blandly, not helping the situation at all as he entered the password on the computer._

_"Let's just see if they helped us out." I sighed as I peeked over Shadow's shoulder at the screen. Swift took a deep breath, then walked back over to check out the information._

_"Okay, so the weakest levels of nuclear radiation are in the middle." Shadow stated._

_"It's almost like a path… Like, it's leading into a trap." Swift rubbed her nose in thought._

_"It is; the highest levels are about forty miles through that path." I noted, pointing at the screen with my finger. "Where can we go from there?"_

_"Up… above the clouds. It hasn't been that long since they first started firing, so we still have time before it reaches the upper atmosphere." Shadow suggested eagerly._

_"Yeah." Swift agreed absently._

_"Sounds like a plan." I muttered._

_"Good. We'll just wait for the right time." Shadow flicked the miniature computer off and put it aside, sitting down in the dirt patiently. Swift and I, however, paced nervously in a circle around him._

_--_

"We were all having weird mood swings, huh?" I chuckled, watching Swift's cheeks turn light pink.

"I guess so." She rubbed the back of her head anxiously. "The atmosphere sure was strange."

"God, we were so stupid! We wasted so much time and-." I stopped myself as Swift's eyes widened in shock at my outburst.

"Finish it." She whispered, analyzing me.

"I could have lost you." I completed, grabbing her hand before she could respond.

--

_Abruptly, Eggman's ship, The Egg Carrier 3, smashed into the mountainside, causing a minor rockslide. But, we really didn't care all that much, the rocks were only hitting the ascending ocean. And besides, now we had backup. However, the F-22s fired missiles at the Egg Carrier as soon as the dust cleared. Despite my usual quick reactions, I turned much too late to do anything about it. Yet, Swift was already on it._

_"Doctor!" She shouted the instant the missiles erupted from their shafts. Before either Shadow or I could grab her, she raced down the mountain and jumped onto the Egg Carrier. Then, Swift threw her arms out wide. "Shields up!" She ordered. Eggman complied, pushing his shield to it's maximum. Suddenly, I saw what she was doing and pulled Shadow down the mountain with me as I made a mad dash towards the shield. Just as I threw myself and Shadow inside, Swift unleashed a torrent of Chaos, which molded itself under her will to form the shape of the shield and reinforce it from below._

_"Brilliant idea, Swift!" Eggman called from a loudspeaker on the outside of his ship._

_"Was that really necessary?" Shadow asked rhetorically, pushing himself off the ground and dusting off bits of nonexistent dirt from his shoulders and stomach. I merely glowered at him in return, then refocused on Swift, who was struggling with upholding the shield as Eggman's main one shattered above her's. Shadow, sensing her falling, seized control of the Chaos she had conjured and released her from it._

_"What?" She breathed as the weight lifted from her. "Shadow, no!" Swift gasped as she slid down the side of the Egg Carrier 3._

_"I've got this!" He resisted, twisting away from her as she lunged at him._

_"Launch it at them!" I shouted as the plane dropped a bomb. Shadow and Swift both looked up with dazed expressions on their faces. Then, they both grimaced at me and swept their hands in an arch at the same time. The shield flew directly through the bomb, causing it to explode in mid-air, creating a rather beautiful plume of flame stain amidst the cyanide blue sky. Afterwards, it connected brilliantly with the plane that had launched it and two others, engulfing them in a less pretty explosion. The oncoming group erupted in cheers as they arrived to the flare._

_However seconds later, the other plane swooped low and launched several more missiles, eliminating our time to react._

_"NO! Get out of the way!" Swift screamed as Shadow and I froze in place. She threw herself at us, pushing us roughly out of the way and taking our places. As she righted herself and held her hands out openly, I shouted as I tried to stand. But, I was too late. I closed my eyes as the missiles hit Swift head on, enveloping her in a bright white light. Shadow and I screamed her name in desperation as we stumbled blindly to the spot where she had disappeared into the light._

_Suddenly, the light receded, leaving the remaining two of us rubbing our eyes and blinking rapidly to find Swift with, it seemed, thousands of crimson threads slicing across her body. She rose slowly, closing one eye against the pain as she pushed herself up._

_"You need to rest." I placed my hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back to the ground._

_"No." She growled, shrugging me away, but I persisted, pushing her down a little more forcefully. Finally, Swift ceased her resistance with a defeated huff, folding her arms over her chest. When I looked up, Shadow's eyes stared blankly ahead._

_"Shadow? Yo, dude! You in there?" I waved my hand in front of his face to grab his attention, in vain. As if grabbed by a mechanical force, he began to walk up the mountain without looking back. Swift's ears pricked up and she began shifting uneasily, contemplating whether she should fight me over standing again. "What's up with him?"_

_"Remember when I said he was vindictive on the Blue Typhoon?" Her face contorted in pain as she realized the unexpected consequences of taking the blows meant for Shadow and I, as well as the potential extent of those consequences._

_"Oh God." I breathed._

_"Exactly."_

_--_

"Overly protective, overly protective, overly protective!" I chanted irritably.

"It's not all his fault; it's the way he was designed." Swift shrugged indifferently.

"I've never met anyone so willing to die for another person!" I exclaimed without thinking, receiving a shocked expression from Swift. "Well, other than…" I paused, wondering if I should have continued.

--

_"SHADOW!" Swift howled as she burst up the cliff a mere millisecond after me. Those two milliseconds however, were enough to give Shadow the time he needed. We skidded to a stop just as the cliffside was washed in golden light. "Crap." She hissed, watching as Shadow took off in a burst of gold and red._

_"Did he just go Super?" I said numbly._

_"Yeah."_

_"Crap."_

_"You're telling me."_

_"We can only pray…" I muttered. We stood at the edge of the cliff and observed as Shadow flew into the horizon through the path of low radiation, armed with vengeance, pride, and an array of Chaos attacks._

_--_

"Freak." Swift stubbed her toe on a stump, breaking her concentration. I snickered softly and she glared at me, just like old times

--

_As Eggman stumbled up to the top of the mountain, the ocean finally stopped rising, leaving only around one hundred feet of sheer drop-off between our group and the ocean. The blue sky was becoming more like Swift's fur with each second as the sun descended rapidly, bringing a close to doomsday… severing our spinal cords without too much suffering._

_"Did you manage to get it?" Tails asked Eggman._

_"Yes. Bocoe, Decoe, and Bokkun are transporting the parts for the World Gate here now." He replied._

_"Please tell me you didn't bring the whole thing." I groaned as Bocoe threw a piece of metal down that was at least ten feet bigger than me._

_"No, only the necessary." He said curtly._

_"Ya'll better hurry up on that. We won't have another way to get out if they launch another nuke at the icecaps." Swift said ominously from her perch at the very edge of the cliff._

_"She's right. Just get to work." Rouge urged them on hurriedly. Without another word, Eggman and his robots set to work on the machine._

_Shadow hit the water faster than any of us thought we would. In fact, they managed to hit him with a nuke faster than any of us expected them to._

_"He's down!" Tails announced, though we had seen enough. Swift dove from the cliff the instant Tails spoke._

_"SWIFT NO!" I shouted, leaping over the edge and sliding down the cliffside rather than launching myself into the water. I quickly glanced around when I reached the water's edge, finding the sun meager inch from the ocean. It was larger than normal and tinted the ravaged sky an orange shade. When five P-5s, large but agile versions of the P-1, a wolf-like robot with metal jaws, and with bowed legs and modified skates for water, appeared on the surface of the water as five black dots, I hesitated no longer, knowing that Swift wouldn't know what hit her._

_"Sonic!" Knuckles yelled from above me. I looked up irately. "Catch!" He tossed my jet adapters for my Soap Shoes down._

_"Thanks." I yelled back, catching them and sliding them on before dashing onto the water just as Swift hit the surface running. Because she took off so fast, she had no time to react before a P-5 clamped its titanium jaws on her left thigh, ripping the muscle with a horrifying tearing sound. Swift careened into the water with a muted scream as her body immediately started repairing the damage with her energy. She was back up again by the time I got there. With a howl in rage, I threw myself into a Spin Dash and crashed through the P-5 that had wounded her, obliterating it easier than I had ever destroyed one before, slashing my back open as I ripped my way through Igniting a ball of Chaos, Swift rocketed at two P-5s and blasted the ball at them, incapacitating them as well. With the last two, I jumped on one's back and held on for dear life as it bucked while I undid its central circuitry. Swift, however, had more trouble with the Alpha. I noticed she was having problems struggling with the machine's jaws, so I launched myself at the beast. Though I knocked it over, Swift wasn't prepared for the shift and lost her grip on the jaws, and the P-5 snapped them shut on her right side. It threw her as it fell, tearing her flesh like a piece of paper from a notebook. She was flung so far, Swift slammed into the cliff where she had started and slid into the ocean, sinking like a rock. Roaring in fury, I flung myself at the Alpha and shattered it, then rushed desperately back to Swift. Without thinking twice, I took a deep breath and dove, grabbing her hand within a few feet and pulling her back into the realm of the remotely living. When her head broke the surface, she gasped and blubbered as I pulled her. As I pushed myself onto the new bank, I got a look at the gaping wounds._

_"Holy-." I dragged her back to shore, cradled her, and carried her back to base camp, leaving a crimson trail in our wake. Shadow reappeared in a flurry of gold and ruby at the edge, more enraged than before, but realizing that he wasn't helping matters as I glowered at him. His crimson eyes were ablaze with fury, but he powered down and returned the Emeralds to the air around us, returning to his usual charcoal and scarlet fur color._

_"I'm fine, Sonic." Swift murmured from my arms, gritting her teeth as she tried to squirm out of my grasp. The large wounds were healing fast, but she wouldn't be able to walk into the World Gate unassisted._

_"Can't I just hold you here for a minute?" I pleaded with her to make it seem less like aiding._

_"I suppose." She sighed and stopped._

_"Finished." Eggman called._

_Rouge, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy were already through by the time we walked up to the new Gate._

_"Go on through, Doctor." Shadow offered._

_"No, you first."_

_"But then… who's going to destroy the gate?" Swift asked, epiphany coming across her._

_"I am." Eggman said._

_"What?" I felt my jaw drop, but Swift quickly pushed it back up._

_"I'm tired of being the bad guy, the loser villain. If you can't beat them, join them." He gave us a weary smile that made him look eighty rather than forty._

_"You're making no sense." I said disbelievingly._

_"I'm a better hero than villain. I refuse to be your enemy anymore, Sonic." He said clearly. "What don't you get?"_

_"You're sacrificing yourself for… me?"_

_"Well, I have to admit, if you didn't have Shadow and Swift with you, I'd be pretty hard pressed to let myself take your place." A smirk took over. I felt Swift hiccup._

_"You're kidding."_

_"Not at all."_

_"I'll thoroughly miss doing battle with you, Eggy." I nodded at him._

_"As will I with you, dear enemy."_

_"Doctor… I knew you weren't bad to the core. You are the Professor's grandson." Swift said solemnly._

_"Pleasure to be of service." Shadow said shortly, stepping into the portal and leaving Swift and I with Eggman._

_"Go on. You have thirty seconds." Eggman urged. With one last grin at the three robots and the would-be tyrant gone good, I stepped through the portal with Swift in my arms._

--

Overcome with a sense of nostalgia, I snuffled and wiped my nose, releasing Swift's hand.

"I don't understand one thing." Swift had a puzzled look on her face.

"What?"

"Why did you dive after me when you knew I would resurface within a couple of minutes?" She questioned, caramel irises glinting as the sun's golden-orange color refracted off of them while it hovered over the ocean's surface. We looked up at it for a split second, taking in the double image the water's now calm glassy surface created.

"I… er… You… I didn't know that!" I exclaimed. She seemed disappointed by my answer. "Besides… people do crazy things when they're in love." I smirked deviously. My timing was impeccable because the instant I said the words that would make or break me, the world ignited in an explosion of color and light, framing the two of us in a canvas painted by someone who was watching out for me upstairs, caused by the sun finally touching down on the water. Emotions that had faded into faith between us from the ten months of separation burst onto the canvas, it seemed, in a mass of burning desire upon which the both of us acted.

Swift

"God, I hope you mean that." I swallowed Sonic in a tight hug as some outside force lit our passion on fire.

"Why wouldn't I?" His muffled reply came seconds later. I didn't answer his question for fear he might stumble upon a realization. "So you still do like me." He remarked.

"Of course… 'like' doesn't fully cover it. And you?"

"You're my addiction and I've been going into withdrawal for too long." Sonic grinned.

"Slow go."

"Agreed. So, does that mean we're starting over? 'Cause this reminds me a lot of that night a couple years ago…"

"You mean at Static." The rather exciting night at the club back on Mobius when Sonic and I had met absolutely by chance, drawn together by a particular song…

Some minutes had passed before I became fully aware of my surroundings again. Sonic and I had released each other and sat in the warm sand to watch the sun set beneath a wall of water, but twilight was quick in falling in behind the dazzling sunset.

"Let's head back." Sonic stood and restlessly surveyed the landscape as he offered me his hand.

"Okay, Sonic." I chuckled lightly and took it, allowing him to pull me to my feet and begin the long walk back to the beach house.

**A/N: -twitch, twitch- 22 pages... -twitch-**


	5. But You Can't Take Away, Turn Away

**A/N: So in the spirit of All Hallow's Eve, I've decided to post a slightly (by my terms) eerie chapter to Falling Up. (Hey! If you want creepy, try two of my other stories! Trust me, I know creepy.) I've also decided to go two chapters, then switch back to my little stalker's 3rd person POV. It'll go something like this: _stalker chapter_, regular chapter: 1,_ 2_, 3, 4, _5_, 6, 7, _8_, 9, 10, _11_, 12, 13, _14_, 15... If I have enough luck to reach 15 chapters. Heh...**

Chapter 5: But You Can't Take Away, Turn Away, Run Away, Screw With Me

His target was on the move…

But not in any big way.

She flitted delicately from room to room, a stunning smile gracing her lips. Her eyes glinted in the sunlight that made its way into the rooms through clean windows, setting her chocolate eyes on fire. There was something about those irises that made him tick…

He had forgone the binoculars for a telescope. The fact that Venus was out this morning just over the house was an added bonus for cover-up.

But, he wasn't here for planets.

Just as she disappeared from his sight, she exited the house through a back door and proceeded down the boardwalk, towel and book in hand. Taken by surprise, he jerked up from the eyepiece, tilting the scope slightly further up, and watched as she walked towards him. With unparalleled grace, she strode past him, seemingly not noticing him. The lack of attention created an extreme reaction in his brain, as if a hydrogen bomb had been ignited. A rage flickered briefly in his head, kindling a burning fury. Just as he was about to explode, saunter over, and blindly rip her neck wide open, she looked up and smiled at him. He froze over, melted, and froze over again. A bit rigid, he waved stiffly back, forcing a smile onto his face. After laying her towel out, she padded over the sand to reach him.

"Venus?" She asked, gesturing to the telescope. He nodded, not quite sure what to say. "May I take a look?" She flashed him her brilliant smile. Nodding again, he stepped aside and watched in a shocked state as she leaned over and peered through the eyepiece, her grin growing. After a few seconds, she stood up and looked back at him. "Ahhh, Venus. It's a pretty planet on the cover." She shrugged. "Thanks." Returning to her book, she nodded at him and trudged back.

A few moments later when a chill danced up her spine and she turned to discover the source, she didn't find a trace of him save a small yellow spine, which she held up for the wind to take.


	6. Set the Stage, Set It Off

Chapter 6: Set the Stage. Set It Off.

Sonic

_Aside from a lone streetlamp, the eroded road faded into the surrounding shrubs and sand in the darkness. As I slowly approached the lamp, my shoes clapped rather loudly against the asphalt and the light flickered eerily. I was alone, save for the wind nipping at my ears. A greatly disturbing trace floated on the air, flitting in and out of perception as I stepped into the halo defined by the lamp. The second my foot entered the light, it dimmed considerably and continued to flicker. Yet, I plodded directly into the center of the ring and stopped, facing my body to the ocean despite the land breeze. After a few moments, a chilling gale ripped by, sending shivers careening down my spine and prickling my quills. Just after, the light bulb within the lamppost burst. Darkness immediately pounced on me, the sound of the bulb shattering making me jump. The blackness made me even uneasier, and I knelt down in a racer's stance and pawed the ground anxiously. Suddenly, a loud crack sounded and I jerked upright, ears erect in search of the source. An ear-rending scream followed, one that I had only heard once before though not nearly as loud. It took me a split second to realize whom the voice belonged to before another crack silenced it._

_The other time I had heard it; the scream was grief-ridden and anguished… This time, it was absolutely panic-stricken, and the fear that laced the wave stung and reverberated in my eardrums._

_"SWIFT!!!" I answered the distress call and sprinted down the road in the direction of her cry. As I neared the site, I pumped my legs faster and faster, looking behind me in anticipation of flames since I was running so hard. Such was not the case… I slammed my heels into the ground to stop myself, spinning my arms in reverse circles to keep my balance. A cursory look around revealed two things: Swift was no longer here; and someone was hurt. A spot of blood was the only telltale sign of a struggle in the sand. The crimson liquid stained the ground quartz burgundy. No trail led from the smudge, so I inferred that it must have been Swift._

This time her healing wasn't a lucky charm.

_However, the spot smeared to the northwest a bit, so I surmised that she had been dragged off in that direction, but if I was wrong, I'd search the whole damn island. Abruptly, the wind shifted and my nose was filled with the scent of vanilla and peppermint, soothing the tempest in my mind._

_"Swift…" I muttered, turning my nose to the source and finding the direction of the smudge correlating with the wind. "I will find you; I promise." I took off into the wind._

_Many other, male, scents soon clouded Swift's scent, but all grew stronger until I slowed in front of a dilapidated and decrepit old warehouse. The ashen wood, I noted as I crept forward, was rotting in many places due to the added moisture in the air from the sea and the broken windows revealed the inside to be pitch black._

_The boards underfoot creaked no matter how lightly I stepped. Despite that, I padded softly into the warehouse, finding it empty. I came to a stop in a patch of moonlight that had leaked through a window, allowing my eyes to wander. When it looked like I had come up empty handed, I looked down at my feet to find myself standing in a puddle of blood. I lifted up one shoe and then jerked my head forward to discover a huge amount of blood trailing across the floor, out of a door that had been broken off of its hinges, and onto the sand pathway that headed to the beach._

No one could survive losing that much blood! _I anguished within, but my feet festered to get to her. All of my focus centered on that one thing as I removed myself from the world and concentrated solely on following my feet. As I navigated the dense brush that had overgrown parts of the path, my movements grew more and more deliberate and forceful as my mind meandered over the thought of what had caused Swift to lose that much blood. Suddenly, the beach was upon me and the shrubs cleared, opening to empty sand and a calm ocean, full moon reflected on the surface._

_"Swift!" I whispered hoarsely, taking a few timid steps forward, feeling slightly overcome with fear of what I might discover. "Are you out there?" I received no answer but a stroke of heat lightning over the ocean. Approaching the water's edge, I peered into the waves at my distorted reflection to find two lumps on the ground to my left behind me. Mentally shaking myself for convincing myself I wouldn't find her so much that I had refused to be more than brief, I nervously ambled over to them. Finding the first one to be black, I pushed it over gently to find Shadow knocked unconscious, beaten, but not bloodied. Then, I looked to the second one. I didn't have to flip her over, Swift was face up on the ground. As I neared, I noticed the large blood streak beneath her, but couldn't find any marks on her upper body. Just as I glanced down to her legs, something hit me over the head with a resounding crack, and I fell forward as red and yellow stars erupted against a swirling black frame…_

Screaming bloody-murder, I turned over and spun out of bed, landing sprawled on the floor with a thump. Breathing heavily, I turned my head to the door, to find it wide open. A few seconds later, Shadow strode past the door with a large stack of folded clothes in his arms. A second later, he backpedaled into the doorway, clothes still in his possession.

"Did ya hit your head?" He cocked his head at me curiously; smirk playing at his lips.

"Maybe." I placed my fingers on the back of my head and gently prodded, wincing as I found a tender spot.

"You screamed like a girl." Shadow chuckled, causing the tips of my ears and my cheeks to burn.

"Says the male hedgehog doing his laundry." I grinned deviously, jerking my head at the very top item on his stack, a pair of lime green panties. Shadow's cheeks turned bright red.

"Imprudent pig." Shadow sputtered furiously. "You should know that I'm being civil and kind to my sister, despite the fact that she nearly killed me with all of her chiding, by doing the chores she would usually take care of, thank you very much." He snorted, tossing his head to get a stray onyx quill out of his face.

"Does that include your laundry?" I laughed.

"For your information, Sonic, I am currently putting away Swift's clothing. Do you agree to this, or should I disregard Swift's orders to tell you where she is expecting you to meet her this afternoon?" Shadow said smugly. I instantly clamped my mouth shut with an audible snap. "Your answer?"

"I agree." I muttered, eager to learn the new information, but regretting not pursuing Shadow further.

_He's just one of those people who is fun to make angry… just back out of the way when it happens…_

"She's out on the beach waiting for you." Shadow smiled lightly as he spoke. "You should be able to see her when you walk out on the deck. Oh, and be sure to grab some food off the counter. Can't have breakfast going to waste." He added in an omniscient tone.

"What time is it?" I groaned as I pushed myself off the hardwood floor.

"Eleven o'clock. Someone was a sleepy head." Shadow shook his head.

"Thanks." I said, stepping carefully around him and out the door, nabbing my Soap Shoes along the way.

"No problem." He smirked back and fell back into his duties again.

I navigated my way through the long hallway to the flight of stairs that led to the kitchen. I bounded up them and crossed the open living room and dining room to reach the counter of the kitchen to be greeted by the mouth-watering smell of bacon. I gently lifted a paper napkin over a plate to discover that my nose did not lie. Beneath lay two pieces of juicy-looking bacon. I snatched both up and stuffed them in my mouth, then strode back downstairs to the master bedroom, chewing as I walked.

No one occupied the massive master suite, it seemed as I walked in. And so without any discretion, I plopped myself onto the pastel and puffy quilt to slide on my shoes. Within seconds, I stood back up and hurried out of the sliding door and onto the deck.

A wave of salty air rolled over me the instant I stepped outside and I greedily inhaled as much as I could before having to let the air go. As I edged out of the shade of the upper deck, the sun welcomed me to a new day, burning away the crimson stains against my retinas, and warming my fur. I shaded my eyes with one hand and looked out over the beach, searching. Just when I thought I would have to look another way, a flicker of navy blue caught my eye directly in front of the house. The sight set my heart aflame, and a smile grew on my face. I instantly started down the stairs, careful enough not to lose my balance. Then, I strode across the tapered boardwalk to the sand, this time not paying any attention to the foliage that bordered the walkway. With a few last deliberate steps, I padded onto the sand, leaving the shelter of the hedges to be fully enveloped in light. I squinted a bit as I trudged towards the blue blob, counting my paces. When I reached about thirty, I could see details: her black tank top, her gray shorts, the green towel with red and yellow shells decorating it beneath her, the black book with silver writing on the spine held open in her hands, the poetry darting across the peach pages, the way the sun glinted off of her bracelets. I stopped a foot or so behind her, her scent hitting me full force thanks to the sea breeze that swept forward. I realized she had taken my advice, disobeyed Shadow, and ceased using the deodorant, at least for the moment. Vanilla and peppermint slammed into my nose, drowning me in a feeling like being home at last, as if I'd finally discovered where I belonged. Swift tensed noticeably the moment I was within several yards, but now she simply waited, knowing I was near, but not responding just yet. I shook myself out of the musing vibe and refocused, reaching out and lightly brushing her shoulder. Swift tilted her head up to look at me, giving me a rather demure grin. I smiled back and flopped into the sand beside her, watching as she closed her book and placed it in the sand.

"Good morning." I whispered, leaning my head forward.

"Morning." She replied bashfully, her cheeks flushing light pink.

"What's on your mind?" I moved back to give her a little room, to which she instantly looked grateful for.

"You know that thing? With Sally arranging-?"

"Yeah. What of it?" I quizzed, wondering where she was going with it. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked after pondering the thread for a moment.

"We should fix this." We said together. Locking her chocolate orbs in my gaze, we remained silent for a moment or so after that statement. Then, I burst out laughing at the serious look that had formed on her face.

"What?" A light smile played at the edges of her lips at my laughter.

"Let's go." I stood and started to walk away.

"Wait, Sonic!" Swift shouted after me, wrapping her belongings in the towel and slinging it over her shoulder, rushing to my side.

"When?" She breathed, not necessarily breathless, but startled.

_Just enough time for me to go back and get my things from the other side of the island. How about-?_

"Five minutes." I said eagerly, antsy to hit the road. Swift groaned softly, but darted in front of me and flew into the house.

Shadow

Swift careened into my room a split second after the door from the deck slammed into the wall behind it.

"Hey! Be careful, Swift! We don't own this house." I shouted, grimacing at how bad the damage sounded.

"Sorry." She winced. "We're leaving."

"Now?" I leapt to my feet and started for the door.

"Well, four minutes and forty-five seconds." Swift's forehead crinkled for a second while she calculated, and then returned to normal.

"Didn't take him too long to get antsy, huh?" I asked as she fell into step with me. Swift shook her head and took off again, heading for her room. Within a moment, she threw a single drawstring bag packed with only the most necessary of her items into my hands as I walked into the entrance of the hallway, perfect synchronization due to our deep mental connection.

_When did he decide this?_ I projected.

"One and a half minutes ago!" Swift yelled from the depths of her room. A second later, she tossed a duffel bag at me, which I caught neatly. I kept a hold on it and tossed it over my shoulder with the drawstring bag. Swift reappeared seconds later and dashed past me, while I walked slowly to the front door. I used my three and a quarter minutes to trudge to the entrance of the home. Sonic nearly collided with me as I placed the bags by the front door, earning himself a sharp glare. Sonic tore back down the hallway, throwing his bags behind him. I narrowly caught them, all the while avoiding smashing the rather expensive-looking vase that perched atop a black wooden table. Swift's mind lightly brushed against mine in brief warning and I imagined a smirk on her face. Snarling as I pushed Sonic's bags roughly against Swift's, I stood just in time to catch Swift as she threw herself into me, her arms encircling my neck as I grabbed her waist to slow her. When I found her sufficiently safe, I adjusted my hold on her and hugged her tight. She released me a few seconds later and I followed suit.

"Please be safe." I muttered, gazing into her caramel irises.

"Same." She replied shortly with a meek smile. "Don't get into too much trouble without me." Swift chuckled.

"Shouldn't I be more worried about that with you?" I tilted my head to one side with a reprimanding air.

"No, Felon." She smirked, referring to my many misdemeanors on the planets before this.

"Okay, okay. You got me." I put my hands up innocently.

"Bye, Shadow." Swift gave me a quick hug as Sonic burst into the hallway. "Love you."

"Goodbye, Swift. Love you too." I weakly smiled at her before turning to Sonic. "Sonic." I said sharply, but with a soft core, clapping one hand on his shoulder, effectively saying all that needed to be. Sonic's emerald eyes sparkled in understanding and he nodded almost imperceptibly. Sonic hoisted his two bags, both larger than Swift's by comparison, and threw one arm over Swift's shoulder as she lifted her two bags with furtive grace. They exited and disappeared down the stairs. Moments later, our 2001 black Tahoe pulled out of the garage with Sonic at the wheel. He braked for a second and to wave at me with Swift, and then pulled onto the road.

_I'm glad you two were sensible enough not to try and hoof it to California with luggage. Running's great in battle, but not in long distance traveling for an extended period. I'm sure that, if you two wanted, you could sprint the world within the day._ I pressed against Swift's mind as our connection thinned.

_Yeah, you probably could too. It's also better to be incognito right now. We're pretty good magnets for attention._ Swift replied, her thoughts beginning to become more faded.

_That's for sure. Are you going to be able to get tickets?_

_As if anyone wouldn't pull a few strings for one of the Ultimate Lifeforms and Sonic the Hedgehog._

_True dat. Happy flying._

_Be careful and I'll see you in a few weeks._

In order to cease prolonging the inevitable, I snipped the connection then. However, her presence remained like a part of my being, a lifeline to me so I would know if she was in danger or wounded, a sort of double-edged mechanism for the pessimist, which we both were. We never thought of what would happen if either of us died, but we knew the other did privately. The consequences would be unimaginable.

_Call you when we land!_ Swift repaired the connection for a split second to make her promise, then clipped it again. I shook my head and grinned, stepping back into the house. As I closed the door and turned to face the hallway, I felt a bit empty, reminiscent of the days I spent on ARK without Swift and in isolation, though the feelings were not completely clear. So, I decided to take a trip to the kitchen. Once I arrived, I tore into the freezer and devoured what was left of the chocolate ice cream, then took a seat in the living room to watch whatever happened to come on screen as I randomly mashed buttons, coming up with _Transformers_. After a few minutes, I became rather restless. Without hesitation, I shoved the rest of the ice cream into my mouth and trudged up the stairs to a makeshift computer room. The laptop we possessed sat waiting on a large wooden desk in standby mode. I roughly pulled the chair out and sat down, brushing the touch-pad lightly. The screen awoke at my touch, casting a white glow behind me with the intensity of the light from it. Slipping on a headset not unlike the one to the Xbox, I logged onto a communications program and toyed with the settings while loading the actual course. When it finished loading, I clicked on the headset and watched a window with a miniature picture of Silver the Hedgehog, connection status bar, and sound detector on it pop up.

"Shadow the Hedgehog." Silver's nasally voice caused a disturbance in the green line onscreen, making it go up and down like a wave. "Long time no speak." He stated in a rasping voice, like he was running somewhere.

"Yeah, Silver." I replied shortly. "You being chased or something?"

"Something like that." Silver panted into his headset. Footfalls thundered in the background, punctuated by shouts and screams.

"Bad timing?" I questioned, wincing a touch.

"Much." He gasped and there was a rustling sound followed by a muffled scream. I waited in sickly silence while screams continued to rip through my ears.

"You alright?"

"For the moment." Came the weak reply. A jet roared over Silver, muting everything.

"What happened?" I shouted over the howl.

"Just a little shrapnel in my leg. That's all." Silver snuffled. I grimaced at the thought.

"I need you here, on New Earth." I broke up the pleasantries. A siren picked up a lonely wail near him.

"For what?" He shrieked hysterically, desperation on high.

"Well, I'd prefer it if you didn't die. That might help our cause a teensy bit." I rolled my eyes, though I knew he couldn't see.

"Who's going to lead while I'm gone?" He shouted back incredulously.

"You still haven't gotten her, have you?" I asked quietly, listening to Silver's strained breathing as he chewed on that one.

"No." Silver replied sullenly.

"What do you know?"

"They managed to find her body and they have it sealed away. Apparently, Phoenix is trying to reawaken Solaris…" I imagined Silver cringing. A flame burned behind my eyes at the mention of Solaris, the thing that had inflicted so much unnecessary pain on us all…

"You still there?" Silver questioned my silence.

_I almost wish I wasn't._

"Yeah." I remembered all too well this time around. On certain occasions, it was better not to know, it seemed. Shaking my head to rid myself of the flood of images that ensued, I closed my eyes to wait for Silver's response.

"I'll come." He said quietly.

"When?" I sighed in relief.

"As soon as I can manage. After all, I'm in the middle of a war here." Silver chuckled his reply.

"Good. We'll be waiting for you here." I clicked on the 'x' above the window, silencing Silver.

Sonic

As the airplane lurched straight into the sky, I nervously shifted in my seat, pulling the strap of the seatbelt tighter and tighter. I cast a quick glance to my right to find Swift fidgeting and expressing uncharacteristic nervousness. Her ears were laid back in anxiety, but I felt sure she could hear my heartbeat drumming in my chest, my life beating away from her perspective.

Diverting myself from that eerily intriguing prospect, I clawed at the armrest on my left as the plane tore through turbulence. Menacing clouds flanked the plane on either side as it pierced the thick blanket that cloaked the airport. Just when I thought I would leap up and force the pilot to take us back down, I felt someone's hand close over top of my right one. I turned my head quickly to find Swift smiling at me. I instantly calmed down, upturning my palm and squeezing her hand. Though this action caused a bunch of cameras to flash, I kept my hold on her hand.

_After all, if she's not worried, what do I have to be scared of?_

I grinned back, creating a new wave of flashes as the plane leveled out to cruising altitude.


	7. A Hundred Million Suns

**A/N: I am SOOOO freaking sorry for the VERY long wait. :( I know it's likely that people are pissed at me about this. XDDD Oh well. Sorry, once again, but please enjoy the 7th chapter! R&R MAN!!!!**

Chapter 7: A Hundred Million Suns

Sonic

My legs had fallen asleep. Sharp needles dug into my skin to tell me as I stood. I groaned in agony, rubbing my legs hard to shoo all the needles away. In a few seconds, I reached underneath my seat and grabbed my carry-on bag. As I allowed several passengers to go ahead of me, Swift placed her hand on my shoulder, causing me to turn and look at her. She gave me a tiny smile, which I returned with more enthusiasm. I waited until everyone but the crew had exited and then led Swift out into the terminal. Our arrival had apparently been announced, for, it seemed, several thousand flashes all went off at the same time we stepped foot inside. Despite an immediate urge to bolt, I forced myself to flash my trademark grin and wave a few times, while Swift did the same, releasing my shoulder and gently worming her hand into my clenched fist. After several minutes of greeting people and posing for the cameras, we finally managed to navigate through the terminal and to baggage claim.

"Did you bring your cell?" Swift asked quietly as we approached the conveyer belt, placing her duffel bag beside me.

"Yeah." I handed it to her and she walked off to a corner near the exit, followed by about half of the paparazzi. As I waited for my single bag to wheel around, I warily kept an eye on her. Swift pressed the down key several times, all the while covering the screen of the blue flip-phone to prevent the prying eyes of the cameramen from capturing Shadow's number. She hastily pressed the 'call' key and brought the phone up to her ear to wait for Shadow to answer. Within a two second time period, Shadow picked up. Swift's mouth moved, but since I wasn't a very good lip reader, I couldn't pick out much of what she was saying, at least until she told Shadow she loved him. I turned back around the instant she closed the phone, discovering that my bag was all the way on the other side of the wide room. With a groan, I picked up Swift's bag and hoisted my own carry-on bag, then plodded to the far conveyor belt, complaints for the management running through my brain.

_Not that I'll actually voice it or anything…_ I growled softly as I lifted my baggage from the conveyor.

"Sonic, you got it?" Swift asked as she passed the phone back.

"Mmm-hmm." I replied, though Swift just shook her head and took her duffel bag back, considerably lightening the load.

"You shouldn't have brought that much stuff."

"I know. I was just trying to be prepared."

"Good try." She made a face at the two bags I carried.

"I'll let you pack me next time." I promised with a sly simper.

"I'll hold you to it." She smirked back, completely killing mine with hers.

_That whole amazing hybrid smile-frown seems to run in the Ultimate family._ I chuckled to myself.

"C'mon. I managed to book us a hotel here." Swift said, carefully dodging around mentioning the name as the reporters leaned in with their tape recorders shoved in our faces in anticipation of a slipup.

"After you." I grinned, motioning to the door with one free hand. She led the way to the sliding doors and into the streets. The instant we exited the building, oppressively dry heat struck. Though the wind blew, it merely stirred the hot air. I began to understand why this was the fire's turf. Swift seemed to notice too, though she wasn't the one sweating.

"It's a bit different from the south." Swift grimaced, marked by more camera flashes, wiping her brow.

"Definitely." The weather brought back memories of long summer days in Station Square.

A few minutes of walking later, Swift abruptly stopped in front of a large red-bricked mansion.

"You okay?" I asked, nearly bypassing her because of our nearly machine-like movement.

"Yeah, we're here." She gave me a devious grin. I looked around to see that most of our crowd had disappeared to gather more equipment and people.

"What's the name of the chain?" I questioned, casting a confused glare over her at the huge building.

"The Holiday Inn at Chris Thorndyke's Mansion." She giggled and left me to stare in awe from the sidewalk. "I'll go ahead and get my stuff to the front door." I remained cemented to the sidewalk for a few more minutes as Swift took her time to place her things on the large half-circle-shaped front porch and return. "Are you alright? I mean, we have to go and help Tanaka put our stuff up." She walked up beside me.

"I think I'm going to throw up." I admitted, feeling my stomach churn in response.

"Too many blasts from the past, eh?" Swift shook her head.

"Yeah." I agreed, sitting down right in the middle of the sidewalk.

_If a car hits me, a car hits me._

"Well," She sat next to me and I leaned on her conveniently lowered shoulder. "Chris and Chuck aren't home right now. It's just Tanaka and Ellen."

"Oh, okay then." I stood immediately, feeling a burden lifted off of my shoulders. However, a creature still gnawed at the back of my mind, asking me if they still think I'm their friend. I shuddered slightly, but still caught Swift's attention. "I'm fine." With a nod, Swift picked up one of my bags and led the way to the door. A few seconds after Swift rang the doorbell, which sounded like church bells it was so loud, Mr. Tanaka, Chris's butler opened the door. His imposing figure blocked what was inside of the house, despite the massiveness of the doorway. The fact that we were three feet smaller than he was probably helped.

"Master Sonic and Miss Swift, we've been expecting you." Tanaka gave us a quick bow, which we returned with a brief bow and curtsey accordingly.

"Hello Mister Tanaka." We said in unison.

"Allow me to take your bags and escort you to your rooms." We relinquished our possessions and gave them to Tanaka. He guided us into the mansion, where we were immediately greeted by a double-sided white marble staircase that led to the upper region of the mansion. Tanaka took the right staircase and we followed, the both of us staring in awe at the interior of the new mansion. Though slightly reminiscent of the mansion we had come to know and love back on Old Earth, this new mansion had its own modern kick to it, as if it had adapted to Chris's new interests he had developed during the ten months I hadn't seen him. After a few moments of silence and walking, Tanaka finally stopped at two doors directly across the hallway from each other. He unlocked the white door on the right and allowed us to enter, placing Swift's bags on the large and fluffy looking bed. "If you will allow me, I will show you the rest of your rooms."

"Sure." I shrugged, grabbing Swift by the arm before she could start to unpack and towing her along behind Tanaka.

"If you come through this door, you will find yourself in a bathroom." Tanaka began, opening another door while I helped Swift to her feet. "Master Sonic, please pay attention, for your room is a mirror image of Miss Swift's." His glasses flashed as he tilted his head up for authority. I returned my attention to him, while allowing Swift to clamber back to her feet using my arm. "Through the bathroom, which has a shower and tub with an endless supply of hot water, you enter a lounge area that connects your two rooms." Tanaka opened the door to allow us a quick peek, then slammed it shut, nearly closing my nose in the door.

"Careful!" I yelped, jerking away from the door and holding my nose.

"My apologies, Master Sonic." Tanaka bowed and looked at the floor for a few sentences. "Would you like ice for your nose?"

"No thanks. I think it's okay." I rubbed my nose just to be sure it was still attached to my face.

"I will place your bags in your room, Master Sonic, and leave you two to yourselves." Tanaka left with another quick bow, which we returned this time.

"He hasn't changed." I remarked disdainfully, causing Swift to giggle quietly.

"Well, when do you want to leave? Tails and Pyro are going to meet us for late lunch." Swift asked.

"Now, I suppose." I took a deep breath at the mention of Pyro.

"Okay then, let's go. I need to get out of these clothes anyway." She left with a grin through her entrance to the lounge, while I went through it, struggling not to stop and stare at the luxury that surrounded me when I entered, and out into my room.

Mobians of both sexes were always comfortable with or without clothes on, especially when we're actually on Mobius; it's just the way we were brought up. Though it was becoming more preferred to have clothes on when in public, Swift and I were old school. I practically ripped my bright green t-shirt off and tore off my jeans.

_We are going to Mobius, after all. It's way to hot out here anyway._

When Swift left her room a few seconds later, her drawstring bag seemed a little more laden with items.

"What did you put in there?" I asked as I started to walk downstairs.

"Your essentials." She answered shortly, grasping the gold-plated railing.

"Which would be?"

"Your toothbrush; I have the toothpaste, your quill comb, mine; I have the shampoo and conditioner; a change of clothes for each of us, your iPod…" She paused to toss me the blue device, coupled with a pair of white headphones. "my iPod," She flashed a black iPod briefly, then replaced it. "and some food." Swift finished, pulling on the strings of the bag to close it again. We exited the mansion without saying goodbye.

"Mmm… it actually feels good out here without all those hot clothes on." I lifted my face to the sun to feel the warmth on my muzzle and actually enjoy it.

"I'll second that." Swift squinted into the sky. I carefully glanced over at her, pleased by my choice in female companions. Swift's body was a perfect balance of muscle and, I knew, a fine-tuned weapon. Though dangerous, her body portrayed a portion of the innocence and, perhaps a bit of vulnerability, through the white tuft of fur on her chest. White in the midst of black and blue, like an island in the middle of the ocean. Maybe she was my repose in a world of chaos.

_Just one look at her does make me feel a little better._

I shook my head to insure that I wouldn't be staring when she turned her brown orbs back to me, which she did the instant I looked away. She indicated the direction of our travel with a quick nod. I smiled to myself and began to walk in that direction with Swift at my side.

Shadow

_Naps suck._ I thought to myself as I repositioned myself on the couch, glancing at the green wall clock as I did so.

_Only 3:45? Shoot._ With an agitated groan, I stood up and stretched.

I thought naps were supposed to waste the day away. I strode to the sliding glass door that separated the living room from the highest of two ocean-facing decks and gazed out, placing one hand against the surprisingly cool glass. The sky looked relatively clear, aside for some cotton ball clouds drifting inland inoffensively. The ocean was rolling calmly beneath the horizon, so I allowed my eyes to meander closer to the house. Finding only a few uninteresting souls either napping or tanning in the sand, I looked to my left, the only occupied house at our sides. Just before my eyes locked with the car parked in the driveway of the neighboring house, a sinister and cold feeling washed through my body, and I shuddered abruptly.

_Something's going on over there._ Instead of merely taking a fleeting look at the house, I glared into the car and at the unaware yellow male hedgehog at the wheel. He was backing out of the driveway with a guilty sentence written across his face.

_Or perhaps something more…_ I folded my arms over my chest.

_Plotting._ I named as the dull gray Maxima finally got into the street. A smirk flickered across his face, indicating that I was correct. Shaking my head, I diverted my attention to Swift's spark in the back of my mind, flinging a mental spear out in her direction to insure that she was okay, which she acknowledged with a returned lance. Though her reply kindled happiness within me, it wasn't enough to bring a smile to my face at the moment. I glowered at the floor, listening to the vehicle's exit rather than looking at it. Worry flashed briefly across my mind as I looked up to find that the Maxima had disappeared, silenced only by realizing that I was half-hyperventilating. Shaking myself out of it, I turned away from the window and plodded down to my room to fiddle with Chaos.

Swift

Smoothing back a navy quill that had fallen out of place moments after receiving a mental spike from Shadow, I strode confidently into the 80's style diner, Jet Shoes clacking on the checkerboard tiling. Sonic, I knew, I had to be secure for. He was practically tearing himself up in anxiety over Pyro. Someone had to be there to pick up the pieces and I always volunteered because that's what I believed being in the type of relationship Sonic and I were involved in entailed.

I stopped in the center of the restaurant, scanning over the people in the booths in search.

_Four tails, two bodies, there's no way any other two would have that._ A grin spread across my face as I stepped to the booth on the far end of the restaurant.

"Are they-?" Sonic began.

"Yes." I replied happily, leading him to the table. "Tails? Pyro?" I asked as Sonic and I stopped just in front of the table. The two questioned looked up instantly, eyes alit with excitement.

"Sonic, Swift! It's been too long." Tails stood up and enveloped both Sonic and I in a group hug. Pyro, however, didn't move, simply staring at us with his all-too-understanding, deep, blue eyes. "This is my little brother, Pyro." Tails gestured towards the red and orange kitsune sitting near the window.

"Hello." Pyro finally spoke, sounding all too calm for his age.

"Hey there, Pyro!" I flashed the kid a grin and a thumbs up, attempting to pull Sonic into the mood.

"H-hey, Pyro. I'm Sonic." He managed to mirror my smile, but couldn't bring himself to the motion that followed. Pyro gave Sonic a small grin, hesitant and plotting in nature.

Sonic blinked, looking confounded and disappointed in himself.

_It's okay. I don't think he doesn't like you, per say. Like a certain other person, he probably wants people to earn his trust and respect before he goes off being best friends with them._ I projected to Sonic with a sigh.

Sonic nodded, teasingly glaring back.

"So, why are you here?" Pyro questioned, narrowing his eyes at Sonic and I as we slid into the booth across from he and Tails.

"Pyro!" Tails hissed, elbowing Pyro in the stomach. Pyro barely moved, gritting his teeth.

"We're actually connecting from here to Mobius. We have to visit Queen Acorn." Sonic replied, appearing unfazed by Pyro's accusative question.

"Oh, Sally, huh? That'll be interesting." Tails remarked.

"Not for the purpose we're going for." I shook my head disapprovingly.

"Yeah, Amy chased me down, babbling some stuff about our arranged marriage by Sally." Sonic responded when Tails and Pyro looked to him for a definitive answer.

"How the heck?" Tails asked.

"Who's that?" Pyro nudged Tails, gazing up at him in search.

"An old acquaintance of mine. She had more than a bit of a thing for Sonic here." Motioning to Sonic, Tails explained with an almost resenting tone in his voice.

"But, I thought you said Swift-."

"It's complicated!" Tails cut him off.

"Not really. Let me try to explain." I interrupted. "You see, Amy really liked Sonic, but Sonic didn't like her back-."

"Why?"

"Well, she wanted to force him to be her boyfriend, but because Sonic never felt the feelings mutually, they never went out."

"What about _you_ and Sonic?" Pyro nodded between us.

"I don't really know." I cast an admiring look at my long-lost-boyfriend-now-returned. "We were friends first. I admit, there was a lot of good chemistry between at first. However, we progressed into being a couple. We didn't rush it. Plus, this time, the feeling was mutual."

"Oh." Pyro chewed on that explanation, so Tails intervened.

"So, how _are_ you two anyway?"

"Rebuilding." Sonic answered.

"For, like, what? The fifteen billionth time now?" Tails scoffed scornfully.

"It's necessary!" Sonic shot back.

"What are you afraid of? That she won't like you anymore after being away from you for ten months?" Sonic looked over to me at that, expression pained.

Tails had hit the nail on the head.

"That he won't find you interesting, beautiful, mysterious anymore?" Tails continued.

"That he or she'll realize that you're imperfect and that he or she deserves better?"

I returned Sonic's gaze, neither of us looking away.

We both knew it was true. We had to be the most fearful couple in the universe.

"Believe you me, you're wrong." Tails growled. "You're probably the most perfect item I've ever seen."

"Thanks, Tails." Sonic nodded at him. I only gave him the nod, not bothering to speak.

"Off the subject of love!" Tails ordered, grinning teasingly.

"Agreed." I smiled.

"So, when are you going to see the Queen?" Pyro stepped in, eager to get back into the conversation.

"Hopefully today." Sonic replied with a shrug. "Who knows? We might not be the most important thing on her to-do list."

"Good point." I stated.

"Oh, so you don't really have time for lunch." Tails grimaced.

"No, sorry." Sonic shook his head back.

"It's fine. How about we take a walk around LA? The next transport doesn't begin for another half-hour." Tails suggested.

"Sure, I don't see why not." I nodded my approval, looking to Sonic for his.

"Yeah, sounds good." He smiled in agreement.

"Alright then, we better get moving." Sonic and I stood and slid out of the booth, walking to the exit while Tails paid for what he and Pyro had eaten. We then left the premises, Sonic and I allowing Pyro and Tails to lead the way through the twisting maze of downtown.

The sun seethed in the burning blue sky and the heat became nearly unbearable. Sweat matted everyone's fur and quills down, the air so oppressive that even _my_ body was forced to augment my temperature with the salty liquid. We looked as if we'd all just run a marathon and a half and the way some of us panted on occasion enforced the issue. The morning's crowds retreated to the shelter of air-conditioned buildings, deep inside the artificial lights. However, we persisted, almost reluctantly wasting time. We passed few other beings as the heat began to reach from the asphalt in disorienting little waves. So, each person, anthro or human, we walked near attracted as much attention as if he or she had been walking on his or her tongue. This being the case, it was no surprise that when I caught sight of a hunter green blob approaching our group, I instantly made the connection. My brain immediately began ripping up images I had long since hidden. Most were blurs, signifying another time when my life had revolved around speed. I estimated five years had passed, this connection cementing my feet to the concrete sidewalk.

"Swift?" Pyro asked, not at all concerned. Sonic was another story.

He had only been fourteen. Sonic had only just begun his adventures against the Eggman Empire on Mobius, a long way away from me at age eleven. That brought my total time spent with Sonic to three years… Three years ago I probably looked thirteen. I wasn't sure; my head was spinning chaotically.

I wasn't sure.

My apparent age changed so much in the most recent years of my life. Five years ago, I was easily fifteen. Four years, I was ten. Three years… I supposed I looked to be thirteen and in the following years up to now, I've been clambering towards the later months of fifteen again. Unlike my brother, who was forced to remain at a steady sixteen, I had freedom to adjust my age as I saw fit. Such a modification came at a weighty cost, however. One I had only paid twice, to return to age ten to reclaim innocence lost, and to reclaim age to keep pace with Sonic. The price to stop was not but a bit of energy, however. It was the adjustment that eliminated every bit of strength I possessed.

Abruptly, my mind shoved me out of reverie. I could only think about how much pain I had caused this emerald colored blob five years. Apology and greeting were the first things that sprang up, so I allowed them to wrench my body from the pack and rush towards said blob. It ceased moving as features became discernable as I ran to it. The most recognizable thing: his shimmering, liquid topaz eyes, though there was something new to them, something that looked as if he'd seen too much… as if he watched everything forthright burn, or perhaps been the one to light the match. Recognition dissolved the age in his irises and a grin of acknowledgement spread across his tan muzzle.

I felt my lips pull back in a toothy smile and his arms opened to envelop me in the least he deserved after what I'd done, an embrace. I burst into his arms and felt him lift me off my feet, almost too easily. This fact scared me, so I released my hold around his neck and squirmed in his grasp. He instantly loosed his arms around my waist and allowed me to slip back to the ground. Turning his eyes on me, a hard look floated across his face.

"Jericho." I said, grimacing. "I-."

"Don't you realize how long it's been?" He hissed. "How ridiculous this is?" Interrupted, I simmered as I analyzed his accusations. "Today is the five year anniversary of the day you left."

_No wonder he looks so forlorn._

_Don't you think that's kind of creepy?_ Shadow snarled threateningly in my mind. Listening, of course, at an awkward moment. His anger allowed for a short burst in our connection. It was a little fuzzy and fading, but clear enough.

_No! He has every right to be upset!_

_Five years, though? Really?_

_You've only been out two years, brother. Remember, I have at least fifty years more experience with typical anthros and humans._

_Or maybe you've gone soft._

I growled and slammed a wall down on our now unintelligible conversation.

_He doesn't know what I've done._

"I'm sorry." I snapped back to reality, feeling rather ashamed of my unprepared atonement. My head dropped, my eyes fixated on a line of ants meandering across the sidewalk.

"I forgive you." His acceptance was the least of all my expectations.

"Excuse me?" I blinked, my head jerking up in shock.

"Well, I do." He smiled again, his eyes melting. He wrapped his arms around me again and I did the same, very loosely, tolerating. I had seen the undeniable in his eyes, the very same love that they had retained in the past. I was uncomfortable at the very least. After a few seconds, I gently gave him a shove and he released me. I grabbed his forearm; aware of the black fingerless gloves he had always worn. Dragging him back to the three guys staring after me, I put on a small grin. Tails and Pyro were perked up in interest and confusion, but Sonic's eyes hardened in concern. Blinking, I pulled the hunter green hedgehog beside me to a stop and let go of his arm.

"Guys, this is Jericho." I motioned to the older hedgehog.

Jericho towered over Sonic and I by inches due to his age, topping Sonic at eighteen, while Sonic had only recently turned sixteen. Sonic remained unfazed by this fact, locking eyes with Jericho meaningfully. I watched this exchange hesitantly, then proceeded with my introductions as I slid back by my cobalt counterpart's side.

"Hello, Jericho." Pyro replied cheerily, his response utterly out of place in the agitated atmosphere surrounding.

Silence slithered into our area as neither Tails or Sonic followed suit, Tails only feeding off of Sonic's anxiety.

"Jericho, these are my friends. Sonic, Tails, and Pyro." I slapped on a near-smile and motioned to each anthro in turn, though Pyro was the single representative of our quartet to make a welcoming gesture. Sonic, in fact, stood with both fists clenched tightly at his side. To calm him, I wormed one hand into his gloved fist, which he loosened to make room for.

"Pleased to meet you." Jericho nodded at them, but his gaze fixated on Sonic. "You are _the_ Sonic, I guess?"

"The one and only." Sonic responded with his usual retort to that question through gritted teeth.

"So, where are you staying, Jer?" I asked, quickly diverting the build up of aggression on one side by ignoring the other, but keeping that other placated by keeping my hand wrapped firmly around his.

"Mmm, the Holiday Inn over there." Jericho answered, his attention fully on me.

"Oh really? Well, I'm sure I could get you better accommodations. How about that Marriott?" I jerked my thumb over my shoulder at the building behind me.

"Err… I'm not really-."

"Come on, Jericho! For old time's sake, let me make sure you're not staying in the same flea-ridden hotel chain we always stayed in during away races." I smirked, memories uprooting themselves once again.

Copper and Jericho had always shared the bed, while I slept on the futon. That was our good luck arrangement. Whenever we tried to move to allow me to sleep in the bed and Jericho and Copper to sleep in the futon, we lost. So, we simply ceased resisting. Besides, the bed had the fleas…

"Fine. For old time's sake." Jericho grimaced slightly, scratching behind his ear absently.

"Great." I released Sonic's hand with a quick squeeze that promised my speedy return and led Jericho into the Marriott.

Sonic

I growled. Angrily. It was almost a Shadow-brand snarl.

"Who the hell was that?" I murmured.

"Jericho." Tails answered simply.

"What I meant, Tails, was 'how the hell did she know him?'" I turned to face him, tone furious.

"I… I'm not sure." Tails looked away, down at the ground.

"Did you see the way she looked at him?!" I roared, clawing at my ears and squeezing my eyes shut, denying everything the past 3-or-so minutes had brought.

"Don't you see the way she looks at you?!" Tails yelled right back, which silenced me, swung me back to reality. I usually took a lot to get Tails riled up.

"Wha-?"

"When Swift looks at him, it's like she's found somebody she's kept a promise for. A non-important promise to us, but you know how she is. But when she looks at you…"

"What?"

"That spark she gets in her eyes when she looks at her friends, me, Pyro, and yeah, Jericho… it ignites and explodes to a hundred million suns. It's like you two are the only beings in the galaxy, no, the universe. You are her life and she would, if she had a choice between you and that Jericho guy, pick you." Tails sounded so… certain.

"How do you know?" I held my suspicious attitude.

"Believe you me, Sonic, you know the same thing, you're just in denial." Tails smirked, seeming, at this moment, omniscient.

"I hope you're right." I could see Swift standing, with her back to us as she spoke with a clerk, a friendly arms-length away from Jericho, which made Tails's lecture more apparent and agreeable.

"If I was a Brit, this would be my response." Tails cleared his throat and put on his best, yet still horrid British accent. "You bloody well know that I'm bloody well right."


	8. Lock On

**A/N: Another creepo chappie! :D haha.**

Chapter 8: Lock On

He watched as his… their… contact felt his way into the pitch black room that was set up for this meeting. If all went as planned, the contact would have, well, contacted with the target.

And that was what he hoped to hear.

He had decent night-vision, unlike the contact, who fumbled around in the dark as uncomfortably as a human. He latched onto a chain positioned directly above his seated form and yanked it down twice. The overhead white lights flickered on obediently in response and, though his eyes were having adjustment issues, he never showed it. He glared directly into the golden eyes of his… their… contact with toned-down ferocity. Even still, as the contact blinked wildly to regain his vision, he flinched away, clearly unnerved. He was as easy to read as a book.

"Well, Cowbird," That was the contact's call sign, "I hope you're about to tell me that you've made contact." He hissed, absently brushing back a neon yellow quill. The Charleston humidity did nothing to help his already tangled quills.

"I am." Cowbird said quietly, his eyes down-turned and pain-filled.

"Excellent! We can proceed with Phase Two." He rubbed his hands together menacingly, as only a madman could.

_Soon I will have her._ He had to strangle a cackle.

"Phase Two, Code Yellow?" Cowbird quizzed. The other hedgehog's ears flattened against his skull in displeasure.

"Oh yes… Phase Two…" With a black and evil smirk, Yellow locked eyes with Cowbird, pervading his own with dark reflections of his thoughts. "Continue to track, Cowbird. The time to make the move is approaching." In anticipation, Yellow stood and slithered up to stand face-to-face with Cowbird.

"Yellow?"

"You will not screw this up for me. You will not. Do you understand me? Make one wrong move, and I'll rip her heart out while you watch, then I'll come for you." Yellow scowled at Cowbird with unbridled hostility. No matter what, nothing would destroy this opportunity.

_Nothing__._


	9. Echoes

**A/N: Okay, I'm about to die from exhaustion. I'm pushing 5:15 AM for ya'll so be grateful. SOOOO TIRED..... Anyway, this chappie should provide a little insight on just who Jericho is... You're on your own. I'm effing sleeping on the keyboard...... bu75tgn... That was my headprint... lol. XD R&R!!! XP**

Chapter 9: Echoes

Swift

"Have a good trip, guys!" Pyro grinned and firmly attached himself to Tails's forearm. Tails cast an adoring smile down at the crimson kitsune before nodding at the both of us as we slipped into the supplied shoulder harnesses. Already, Sonic seemed to be unnerved and he searched for my hand in need for reassurance. His hand found mine and they became entangled.

"Bon voyage." Tails smirked, then continued. "See you guys soon."

"Likewise." I passed a smile to both of the kitsune standing on the loading platform, visible through a currently open sliding steel door just to our left, since we sat on the left side of our car. Three other seats, empty, were parallel to us.

"Goodbye, Tails. Keep that Pyro there in check!" Sonic still managed to crack a joke, despite that I could feel his fear through his shaking hand.

"Hey!" Pyro objected, while Tails's smile grew wider still.

"Don't worry, I will." He replied with a thumbs-up.

The sliding door began rolling into position and words became waves as verbal contact turned impossible. It locked into place with a gentle hiss. Actual trams had not been in operation when the first World Gate was built, but trams capable of withstanding such an odd form of travel were developed as the need for crossing the distance grew more necessary. They were remotely comfortable; it was such a large object that it took around twenty to thirty minutes to transport, as compared to the average human or Mobian transport time of thirty to sixty seconds. However, inside the transport, the feeling of being sucked through a straw no longer took place. All of the energy was exerted on the metal cage around us, rather than our bodies.

The tram jerked forward, onto the track, and Sonic jumped, clenching my hand tighter.

"It's okay." I muttered soothingly, my gaze intent out the window. Tails cast one last sympathetic simper at me and I swallowed a laugh.

"Tell Tails to stop making fun of me." Sonic grimaced.

As the tram edged it's way towards the open portal, I looked away, knowing the bumps would subside as we entered, for no track physically existed inside, only the coordinates fixed in the controls.

_Sonic says to stop making fun of him._ I pushed to Tails, knowing he could not respond.

Finally, the tram was launched into the portal, and, after a moment of turbulence, all was calm, though what looked like hot pink and electric blue lightning and swirling yellow and green clouds visible through the window betrayed the actual conditions beyond the thick walls of steel separating us from the outside.

A minute passed in silence as occupants inside the tram marveled at the odd weather in the wormhole. I, since I was not new to such travel, although Chaos Control was much more simplistic than this, took the time to mull over thoughts presenting themselves.

I had never been to Mobius before, other than the brief amount of time I spent there to test this portal. I knew that Mobius was Sonic's home as it was to Tails, Knuckles, and everyone else. However, to Shadow and I, it meant nothing, other than the home planet of the beings our designs were based on. It may have meant a little more to me, since I was physically born there. As far as I knew, my body's mother and my body's five half-siblings still occupied a space in the very same refugee camp the Professor had rescued me from.

Even still, I had undergone the "Ultimate" change, so they no longer meant anything more than relations to my old infant self. My only family was Shadow.

As if to reinsure this point, I received a mental ping from him just as the thought took place. I shot one back, a small smile crossing my muzzle.

It appeared as if my moment of recollection had passed, as the 'Oh's and 'Ah's subsided into hushed conversations.

"D'ya mind if I ask you a few questions?" Sonic asked, following suit with the rest of the occupants.

"No, go ahead." I encouraged. I believed I knew what this would be about.

"I'm sorry for getting all, I guess, ruffled up about this, but I need to know." He looked away for a moment, at his one free hand, which he clenched into a fist. "Who is Jericho?"

I was not caught off guard as he expected me to be. I grimaced a little bit, but caught his eye despite, holding his gaze while I talked.

"I met Jericho five years and five months ago. Five years ago, to the day, I left his life, for what I thought would be the last time." My grimace faded into a frown. "Jericho is three years older than you; his birthday has yet to pass. He was fourteen when we met. You see, I'd been skipping around major Extreme Gear cities for four years before that. When I thought I was good enough, I decided to try my hand at Metal City."

"The capital of Extreme Gear racing? Weren't you good before?" Sonic interrupted briefly.

"Yeah, I suppose I was, but I had to gain some experience in the racing world, get a few contacts, before I went there. If you went without knowing what's going on, you'd be eaten."

"We learned that one the hard way." Sonic winced slightly. I merely nodded my agreement.

"The first night I was there, I went out for the amateur medley race, the event of the night. Medley, of course, meant 'pick whatever ride you want, but you'll probably end up smeared against the safety wall 'cause there aren't any rules'. Copper, Jericho's adopted father of sorts, was watching in the stands. He had just recently added on a new room to his home, which will come into play later. Anyway, I was booed heartily, as newcomers typically are no matter where they go. And yet, I completely destroyed the competition, and on skates no less. Skates were the least popular of all the rides, but I beat all these boarders and bikers on a pair of _skates_. Of course, these were _my_ skates, but still… The first group to approach me was Jet's."

"You said yes."

"I had to. You didn't turn down an offer like that… Although a day doesn't go by that I wish I _did _turn it down." The frown turned back into a grimace once more. "Copper approached me before them. He didn't offer a deal until later, but he wanted to know if I had a place to stay, which, like I said, I didn't. He drove me away from all of the vying crews before any other group had a chance to recruit me other than Jet's. When we finally got back, Copper offered me his extra room, which I accepted. I didn't meet Jericho until the following morning, but it was immediately apparent that we would be friends for a while. Copper's race team needed another racer and I volunteered, racing alongside Jericho for most of the amateur races, and then racing professionally with the Rogues. I nearly ran myself into the ground doing so and ended up completely doing so later. As I stayed with Jer and Copper, I learned new things: how to properly ride a board, what kinds to buy, where to buy them, new strategies for racing, and the like, all taught to me by Jericho, for the most part. And I taught him how to use skates, though none of the Earth-developed skates worked just like mine. After all, mine were a bit… special…" I paused and took a breath, and the pained smirk became lost again. "I even started to go to high school with him after a couple months. I thought I'd finally found where I belonged… However, it quickly went downhill and into a ditch from there." Pause. I shook my head disdainfully. "Jet courted me a little while after I started high school and I readily accepted, all too eager to have my first experience in love, but Jericho was suspicious. He tried to warn me before it happened. He really tried, but I didn't listen until it was much too late…" I shook my head, trying not to relive what I had seen five years ago. "I had lived with Copper and Jericho for five months before I ran. I fled, pathetically, but I fled. And I left Jericho in my wake…"

After a long silence, Sonic managed to find his voice again. "There's something else."

I nodded, not really willing to share this next bit with him, but doing so anyway. There was no reason to hide anything from him. "He loved me. He's had a crush on me since the first moment he saw me. I, by being friends with him, made it worse. I was stupid for going with Jet and not accepting what I had right in front of me, but I suppose that if it had been any other way, I wouldn't be with you right now." I looked directly into Sonic's eyes to emphasis what I had just said. It was true. Had it gone any other way, I wasn't too sure that I would be sitting on that tram with him. Silence again. This time, it was smothering, choking me.

"I love you." He said it with conviction, releasing my hand and wrapping his arms around me.

"I love you, too. I just… I don't like my friends to be sad." He pulled away. "I downright hate it. Especially someone like that, someone whose life I destroyed…" I sighed, tearing my eyes from his.

"It's in your personality… I guess. I just got a little jealous…" He shuddered a bit.

"You, jealous? Of him? Please, Sonic! I can't believe that." Laughing, I grinned brightly at him, wondering how Sonic the Hedgehog could possibly be envious of Jericho.

"Well, I guess I saw how comfortable you were around him. I sort of panicked." Sonic shrugged, looking away.

"Comfortable?! I was anything but comfortable. It scared me that all those feelings he had five years ago… they stayed. And I detected them. I was just trying to be courteous is all." Abruptly, Sonic's eyes returned to mine, analyzing my last statement.

"Tails was right." Sonic said slowly after a long pause in conversation, stern look fading almost instantly and grin returning.

"What do you mean?" I tilted my head in curiosity, not understanding his last sentence.

"It's nothing." He laughed, emerald irises sparkling in happiness. "Just a little pep-talk Tails gave me."

"Is that good or bad?" I was hard pressed to resist his contagious smile, but persisted.

"Good, now that I know he's right." He grabbed my hand again and gave it a quick squeeze.

No longer able to keep up my struggle, I finally smiled.

Shadow

It scared me. I could _feel_ Swift drifting further and further away as time passed, her location a red blip on the map in my mind. Why I saw it that way, I didn't know. I did know that her being this far away from me was cause for extreme worry.

Anxiety had destroyed my appetite rather deftly. I merely sat on the couch, mindlessly watching The Weather Channel's consistent and urgent Tropical Updates. As it appeared, Tropical Storm Jeremy brewed in the Atlantic and the meteorologists had no defined idea on where this system was headed or what it would become as it moved into more favorable waters for it, less for us. The ocean remained placid, almost glassy, revealing nothing. It was actually doing a more-than-decent job of bluffing.

At its highest point of elevation, St. George Island was probably only around seven feet above sea level. In the event of a tropical storm, much less, a hurricane, there would be nothing left of the island. This assumption was based off of what I had seen occur only a few days before Swift left.

A storm, a bit severe, parked over the island for a few hours, dumping rain with what seemed like no end. By the time the storm had fizzled out, the streets on the island were flooded, standing water just waiting to be hydroplaned over.

It wasn't the houses I was too worried about, rather, the land they occupied.

Even then, my mind was not on the island for the most part.

Currently, my dominant emotion was concern, and this emotion only presented itself for Swift. I fought hard and long to keep myself from calling her just to make sure she was okay.

_Give her some freedom, some independence, Shadow. She told you that she'd call you when she arrived in Mobius and she's not there yet. Just relax._ Some pathetic, optimistic voice squeaked from a rarely used place in my brain. I quickly bit back the 'pathetic' retort when I recognized the voice as Maria's.

_Great, I'm talking to myself._ I hissed, rubbing my eyes.

_Not necessarily, Shadow. I'm not you, as far as I know. That'd be kinda creepy if I was._ I felt my jaw drop.

_M-maria? You're dead._

_Technically not, I'm actually very much alive and well up here in Hea-._

_After all this time, God's letting me talk to you._ My mind's voice sounded a little more doubtful than I'd wanted it to. I closed my eyes.

_Just to give you a brief little warning, I guess._

_I'm all ears._

_The time to come home is approaching?_ Her voice sounded unsure.

_What are you talking about?_

_Look, whatever's about to happen was meant to. You'll find out for yourself eventually. Just know that He has a plan._ Now she sounded rushed.

_Maria! Give me some answers here! You're not being very specific._

_Can't, Shadow._ Abruptly, Maria's face appeared before me, contorted in anger and splattered in blood.

At that instant, I jerked awake, shaking in a cold sweat. I brushed my cheek on my way to holding my head, finding it wet with warm tears.

_What on earth?_

My cell phone shrieked shrilly, screaming that I had missed a call. Lurching from the couch, I staggered over to the kitchen counter and flipped the phone open, stopping the noise. "1 Missed Call: Swift" The screen read. I cautiously depressed the center button and held the phone up to my ear as her's rang on the other side.

Sonic

"Huh, that's odd." Swift muttered, shielding her phone from a gathered crowd of cameramen once more. However, this crowd was much more focused on me than her, where as, on Earth, they were equally divided. This time around, most were merely curious about what the hero of Mobius had brought back home.

"What?" I asked, concerned. I had one hand on her shoulder to steer her through the crowd.

"Shadow didn't pick up… Ah! There he is!" Her frown passed into a grin as she depressed the center button and brought the phone to her ear. "Hey, bro! We made it!"

I tuned out of the conversation she was having and focused on weaving the two of us between people. Once we were finally through the throng, Swift snapped the cell phone closed, her face now a neutral mask, aside from her eyes. Stormy and darker currently, her eyes typically betrayed her every emotion, though most people wouldn't dare look into hers. Personally, I thought they were beautiful.

"What's wrong?"

"Shad didn't sound too great on the phone. Sort of shaky." She murmured low enough to prevent the anxiety from seeping into her voice.

I didn't have to wait long for her to elaborate.

"Maria." She explained simply.

I understood completely, pressing no further.

"So… Are you ready to see my home planet?" I gave it a few moments before I spoke again. She remained silent for a bit, looking straight ahead as we walked off of the platform and into, as in true Mobian nature, a forest.

"The trees…" Swift cast a glance up at them, then looked down at the ground. "The grass… It has a bluish tint." She remarked. I laughed in surprise at this comment. "What?"

"It figures that you would notice something like that."

"Of course I would. I'm me, after all."

"True." I smiled, though she still did not look at me. We continued walking for a bit while I waited for her to reply to my question.

"Sonic." My ears flicked when she said my name.

"Swift." I answered, directing my attention from my surroundings and onto her.

"Show me your home planet." Swift turned her eyes onto me, an eager grin crossing her muzzle.

Immediately, I took her hand, feeling my own smile stretch from ear to ear at that request. I wanted to show her everything that had made me the hedgehog she had met three years ago, as she knew everything that had made me into what I was since then. Excitement ignited within my chest and my heart thundered rapidly. I was home. Finally. No matter the circumstances of my arrival, I was home, about to show my very best friend what it was about this place that made it home.

"Have you ever been to Mobius before?"

"No." She admitted, blushing slightly. "Not like this."

"Then…" I paused, taking a deep breath and allowing the clean air to flow through my lungs, tasting the undiscovered places just on the fringe of touch. "I'll have to introduce you to the Mobius they know, then the Mobius that I know."

"They?"

"Most Mobians don't leave the village they're born in. It's slightly primitive, I guess, compared to what you're probably used to, but there's stuff out there that discourages people from leaving. The Wild's dangerous to those who don't know how to survive, but I'm pretty sure you know how to do that." She nodded in agreement, though it really was unnecessary. "The Wild's the Mobius that most people don't get to see. That's the Mobius that is really my home…" I stopped in my tracks, taking another deep breath. Swift's expression was perplexed when I looked back at her. "What?"

"You don't typically do that." She said flatly.

"I know. Only here." I gave her a sly simper. Her puzzled look remained a bit longer. "C'mon." Swift's head jerked up again, interest fully on me. "I'll show you why."


	10. The Calm

**A/N: First off, I'd like to complain. MY EFFING LAPTOP HAS A FREAKING VIRUS!!!!!!!!! At least, that's what I suspect. So, I will be using my old Windows 98 computer for a while. It runs well enough, so I'm working with it. Until I can either get my laptop fixed or buy a new computer myself, that's how it's going to be. As such, I've had to put a screeching halt on other stories, but because I'm so close to finishing this one, I'm going to be writing the chapters on paper, then typing them up on the 98. -sighs- **

**So, anyway, I'd going to guess that this story has about 2, count 'um, 2 chapters left. So, hold on tight, next chapter and beyond are going to be BUMPY.**

**R&R love you forever!!!!!1!!!!!!1111111 XDDDD Lol, jk.**

Chapter 10: The Calm

Sonic

"Why, Sonic! What a surprise! It's so good to see you." Sally's words were just cheerful enough, but the queen's icy sapphire eyes were not on me. I stood from kneeling, frowning a touch, while Swift carefully followed my lead. "Oh, and you've brought a friend with you, I see."

"M'lady." I began in palace-talk, a dialect I had learned many years ago. "Sal, we don't really have time for all this formal mumbo-jumbo."

"Very well then. Guards!" At the demanding flick of her wrist, the royal guard took up their weapons and marched from the throne room. The massive oak door was slammed shut behind them, leaving two-thirds of the remaining casting anxious glances around while the other third still perched haughtily on her cathedra. "Sonic the Hedgehog, Hero of Mobius, and now as well of our friends on Earth, both New and Old, what could you _possibly_ need of me?"

"A little bird told me a rumor-." Grimacing at that last question, I was a bit slow on the uptake, interrupted by Queen Sally.

"How rude of you, Sonic! Not even bothering to introduce your little friend to me!" She pounced, clearly well trained in this sort of arena, blue eyes calculating as they zeroed in on Swift's bare frame. From her high-horse, dressed in a poofy white gown and shimmering crimson cloak, Sally appeared imposing as compared to Swift, who was clothed in nothing more than her navy Jet Shoes and her locking cuffs as was typical for a, quote-quote, average, Mobian. Swift's expression was one of bemusement, however, not of one intimidated. It was the navy hedgie that drew my attention every time I looked between them, not the coffee squirrel.

I opened my mouth to introduce her when Sally put one hand out in my direction, silencing me.

"I think it has a voice of its own."

_It? Sally really has changed…_

"I am Project 15, otherwise known as Swift." She replied curtly to being referred to as "it", giving an almost-rude bow.

"Project?" Sally asked, puzzled, and inquiring more.

"The youngest, or, if you wish for me to keep speaking like an object, the most recent of the Ultimate family, or, in object-tongue, of the Ultimate Life Projects." Swift's growling was barely audible, my ears flicking as I only just detected it.

"The Ultimate Lifeform?"

"One." Swift corrected. "I have a brother who may be called 'the'."

"Do you have any other relations?" Sally's eyes were hard, seeking weakness but not making any headway.

"Yes, me. Swift is my girlfriend." I stepped into the conversation again.

"Excuse me?" Sally coughed, appearing to choke on air or her own spit.

"Swift and I have been friends for three years. We've gone steady for, what, two of those?" I crossed the distance between Swift and I and put an arm around her shoulder, asking confirmation. Swift nodded, mirroring what I had just done.

"Let me get this straight… You, Sonic the Hedgehog, are dating some freak experiment from space?!"

"What?!" Swift snarled, yanking away from me and taking a step forward, eyes narrowed and posture tight as a ball of Chaos formed in Swift's left hand.

"I set you up with Amy Rose, good girl, nice habits… and you go after _her_!" Sally's face was mortified and her tone just as disgusted.

"Swift, no!" I rushed to her side, taking her hand. "Yes! I've picked Swift." Answering Sally was remotely hard, considering that I was also occupied with preventing the girl I'd picked from killing her.

"Sonic, do you understand that I was setting you up to take this throne?" She sighed and shook her head, running one hand down one arm of the throne.

"What in the heck?" Apparently, it was my time to be bewildered.

"Sonic, I'm dying." Sally sighed, picking a piece of red fuzz from her gown and tossing it to the side.

"Aren't we all?" I thought about it for a second. "Well, other than Swift and Shadow."

"No, Sonic, I have a disease. The doctors gave me until my twenty-first birthday." Her words reverberated off the walls of the palace and we all fell silent.

Sally was two years my elder, just recently turned eighteen. Three years wasn't a very long time… I found it ironic. Just a few hours ago, Swift and I had woken up just in time to watch the Mobian sunrise from deep inside the Wild, a moment I thought would last forever. Now, I was brought back by this news, careening back down to my own mortality.

"What is it?" I asked quietly.

"Colon cancer. Stage three." She replied, apathetic other than the crack that appeared in the middle. Stage three. Inoperable on Mobius. She wasn't the type to go seeking _humans'_ help for anything. "I needed someone to take the throne. I do not have any capable relatives, my heir will not be born for several more years and I do not have a husband."

"I wasn't born inside the kingdom, though. I wouldn't be able anyway!" I exclaimed, trying to see where she's ripped up any logic from this.

"Not exactly. I may nominate you, but either you or your mate must be born in the kingdom. Amy Rose was born _in the kingdom_." Sally explained, tone "I-told-you-so".

"But, I don't love her!" My voice was quickly rising to a shout in defiance.

"Are the refugee camps inside the kingdom?" Swift, who had been silent for a long while, finally spoke again. Sal and I instantly quieted.

"Of?" She asked shortly.

"The Mobian Wars… fifty or so years ago." Swift's voice was calm and collected, while Sally sounded flustered in comparison.

"Yes, but-." Swift cut her off deftly.

"My body… before I became this… was born there." This was a new story to me. I had known that she wasn't created from scratch, like Shadow, but had a base body. I looked over at her, wondering.

"What are you talking about? _Your _body?" Sally asked, her tone making me want to choke her.

"I wasn't always as I appear to you now." Swift shrugged, going no further.

"How can you prove that you were born there?"

"I expect that my mother probably still lives there… She was the last time I checked." She answered, bitterly. Clearly, Swift did not harbor compassion for the woman she described as her mother.

"If you give me your full name, I can find her, or hers." Sally appeared to become more compensating.

"She didn't bother to name me." Swift said softly, obviously pained by this. "I don't know hers…"

"Well, who did?" Sally rolled her eyes, frustrated by this new development.

"My brother."

"The other project?"

"Yes." Swift was still reeling from her admission. "He only gave me one name, not two."

"This complicates things." Sally stopped her advance, mulling over her next approach. "I'll drop the wedding arrangements for now, but you must return within six months with proof of your 'birth' inside the kingdom, or I'm not giving you anything."

"Sal, I don't want to be king. I don't want this." I found my voice again, diverting her attention from Swift.

"Tough, 'cause until an heir of the previous ruler is born, the nominated must fulfill his or her duty to country." Letting Swift kill her didn't seem like too bad an idea now. "Even then, you don't have to give back control."

"Oh, I _will_ be giving it back." I hissed, not too happy about being boxed in. By giving me anything, that also meant authorization or legalization, whatever… on a marriage. And if I ever got to that point, that would be an issue.

"Very well. Is that all?" Sally asked, appearing as though she had greater things that needed tending to.

"Yes, I will return within six months." Swift gave Sal a short bow, then turned and left the throne room. I remained for a few seconds longer.

"I'm sorry, Sal, really, I am." I spoke quietly and directed my eyes to the marble floor, apologizing both for her imminent death and for her change.

"Just… go, Sonic." Sally growled, bringing one hand to her eyes and grimacing as she waved the other in the direction of the door.

I heaved a sigh, feeling truly sorry for who used to be my best friend and walked out of the throne room, casting no glance back, merely hoping that my current best friend would not follow the trend. Sally's guards immediately marched back inside. I stopped one, who answered without a question.

"The dark one you seek sits in the southern palace courtyard." He said, tongue laden with an old accent that only survived here. I nodded my thanks, weaving around a nearby corner and skirting a group of servants to tread knowledgably down the hall. Though it had been many years since I had last visited the palace, I knew my way around as if I lived here.

When I edged inside of the garden, I instantly caught sight of Swift. She was seated on a stone bench near the middle of the garden, legs crossed at the knees, brow narrowed, and expression deep in a frown. The garden surrounding her possessed some of the rarest plants in Mobius and, rather than gazing in wonder as I had when I was a child, I made a beeline for the girl, quickly taking her into my arms as I sat down beside her. I did not speak, only rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, surprised a bit when she leaned into me.

"I suppose its story time again, huh?" Swift sighed heavily. Though I could see her expression darken just by looking down, she did not look up to see mine.

"Not unless you feel comfortable telling me; you've answered enough of my questions." I replied. In spite of my eagerness to learn more about her past, I wouldn't dare push her.

"No." She looked up briefly, and then returned her gaze to its previous position. "I saw that glimmer of curiosity in your eyes back there." I started to open my mouth to object, but she shut me down. "Don't deny it."

"Fine." I huffed, barely able to conceal my happiness.

"You know I wasn't always this, right?" I nodded. "Well, over fifty-some years ago, according to what my research pulled up, my conception occurred accidentally."

"Meaning?" I asked, not really understanding what she meant by "accident".

"My father raped my mother." I grimaced at this, hoping she didn't see my reaction. "I still don't know his identity, to this day." Her voice became laden with a bitterness that I had only heard a few times.

"Sorry." I whispered softly, feeling my heart give an odd little twist. She pressed on though, not stopping to mull over it.

"I was two month premature, a runt. According to Shadow, I was kinda cute. He always used to tell me how I was the single most adorable thing he'd ever seen, joke that it was the reason for his choice." A sour smile pulled at her lips. "Brown and cream colored."

"He's getting his memory back." I sucked in a breath, sharp.

"Some parts are clear, others foggy, then there are those that will remain forever blank, I believe. But, I digress." Swift took a pause. "Then again, I'm not in his head… Not completely, anyway." The grin she had for that subject died. "Mom was not happy, not one bit. She already had four kids to take care of anyway. So, rather than turning me over for adoption, she decided to rid the world of my pathetic existence." I shook my head, unable to hide my disgust for her biological parents. "She tried beating me to death first, but I made too much noise. Someone would suspect something." Abruptly, her voice lost all emotion, her face blanking and becoming ashen. "Memory was something that was supposed to be erased once I became this. Oddly enough, that day's one of the clearer ones in my mind." I pulled her even closer, desperate to shield her from things impossible to protect her from. "She went for the knife, yelling for me to stop crying, figuring that with a slit throat, I couldn't scream." Then, this old man wearing a log white coat stepped inside the tent and she hid the knife behind her back. His eyes immediately went to me and I quieted, intrigued. I really don't know what my thoughts were when I first saw him, The Professor… There were brief negotiations; they ended in me being sold off for five hundred dollars." I was mortified, but she explained a bit further. "Five hundred back then could buy a year's worth of groceries." I nodded, but I still couldn't comprehend trading Swift for money. To me, she was priceless.

We remained silent for several moments, both of us completely still.

"So, now you know." Emotion returned to her tone, though she remained sullen.

"Thank you… I'm sorry." I put my other arm around her.

"It's not your fault." She muttered.

"Do you-?"

"No, that's a job for Shadow. I promised him that if I ever had to go back-."

"No, I understand." She pulled away, giving me a pained grin. "I hope you know, this doesn't change anything."

"Huh?"

"I could read it on your face. You didn't think I'd still love you if I knew where you came from." I smiled knowingly. Swift looked up and blinked, the expression there telling me that I was right. "I know you, Swift."

"Likewise, Sonic." She smirked deviously.

"Well," I stood, pulling her to her feet as well. "Thank you for coming to Mobius with me."

"No, thank you for showing me." Her smile was sweet, sincere.

"We should do this again sometime… Well, minus the little meeting."

"Of course, Sonic, of course." I finally managed to get her to laugh. It was that joyous sound, that little chuckle, that would remain frozen in a small, yet festering part of my mind… forever.

Shadow

_Two days later…_

They were coming home.

I felt it from somewhere deep inside me. With excitement coursing rapidly through my veins, I followed the gut feeling, dashing cross-country to the airport. Once inside, I was barely able to stay seated, much less actually _wait_ for them. Yet, that's exactly what I did, wait. Clutching my cell phone to my chest, I eagerly anticipated _the_ call. As was usual, however, I didn't show it. I wore my characteristic frown, discouraging conversation from all who cast hesitant or unnerved glances my way. I could feel my eyes grow cold with each look I received, my mood beginning to darken. Just as I was starting to consider waiting for them on the roof, my phone began to vibrate. Pleased with this development, I flipped it open and pressed it to my left ear.

"We've landed." Swift's voice came from the device, sounding on the positive side.

"Fine, I'll get your bags." I replied into the receiver, closing the phone and rising. I quickly wove through the crowds, approaching Baggage Claim and planting myself beside their flight number's conveyor.

The room was unwelcoming, but brought out minor pangs of nostalgia, for the ARK was somewhat like this; everything was cold and steely, large in most cases.

Upon sighting, I moved down the conveyor impatiently and dragged their luggage to the floor, paying no mind to the humans and anthros I displaced by moving. Then, I trudged directly through the mob to a remotely clear space near the doors.

I saw white flashes of light from the bowels of the airport before I actually got a glimpse of the two blue hedgehogs in their midst, one dark, the other cobalt. Our mental connection had become stable again hours ago, but the both of us had kept our silence for the instant we were again truly together. Upon her laying eyes on me, this silence was shattered.

"_Shadow!_" The cry came both mentally and vocally. Swift dropped her bag and made a mad dash to me.

_Little one._ My greeting remained inside, laden with joy and a helping of relief. She was back with me, safe. And that was the only thing that mattered. I quickly enveloped her in a tight embrace, holding her close. Unable to stop the smile, I couldn't help but grin, genuine happiness flooding through me.

Sonic picked up her bag and walked up just as I released Swift. The smile shrank, but remained as I placed a hand on his shoulder, truly appreciative that he had returned her whole.

"Thank you, Sonic." I said, not at all concerned by the surrounding media swarm, not anymore. His face twisted slightly in confusion, then melted back into a remotely carefree simper. He nodded, apparently understanding just what I was thanking him for, and handed Swift's bag back to her.

"Well, I hate this, but I… my induction to a few nations' "arsenals" begins tomorrow. I'm sorry to have to disappear again on short notice." Sonic simper became a grimace.

"Arsenals?" My tone was a bit sharper than intended.

"It's a job, Shadow. They pay him to say that he'll come to the nation's aid if they request it." Swift nudged me gently.

_Paying him to play hero?_

_Something like that. He's not to be used in war, not unless it is total war, like this Earth's World War Two. The UN's plan to prevent countries from fighting over him… _Swift responded, not too convinced, her grin faltering.

"How long do you thing you'll be gone?" Swift asked hastily.

"At most, a month."

"Wow. Long time."

"Too long. They're supposed to try to convince me to support them by taking me through their country, but I've pretty much already decided."

"Well, more adventuring for you."

"True, Shadow."

"Speaking of adventures, you and I have a new one for ourselves." Swift hinted. Clearly, they'd made headway on Mobius.

"Excuse me?"

"We managed to put a Band-Aid on the situation, but Swift said you'd probably want to help her with the remedy." Sonic explained.

_You said you wanted to be the one with me when I faced my mom. _Swift elaborated further, turning her eyes to me.

_I did. Now's the time?_

_Within the next six months. _She pushed the memory through to me and I skimmed it quickly.

"Very well. I'll lend a hand." I confirmed my participation, although I had some concerns about what this would eventually mean for all of us, I wasn't about to let Swift go into that hellhole alone. Even though she was perfectly capable of protecting herself, she would need much more than herself for support as she ventured back to her rather painful origin.

"Great." Sonic responded, while Swift kept it even simpler with a nod.

_Thank you._

_Only for you. You know I'd do anything for you._

_Likewise, big bro, likewise._

My heart gave an awkward half-thump, as it typically did whenever she insisted that. I merely prayed she would never have to.

"You really do have to go again, don't you?" Swift asked Sonic sadly. I briefly followed her gaze, nothing his antsy appearance, then glanced back at her. That's when I noticed. Harbored in her eyes was an almost identical look to the one they possessed any time we had to be separated. A similar glimmer was mirrored in his eyes, I realized, though his was clouded with a bit of confusion, probably held for the uncomprehending of the feeling. It was love, undeniably so, coupled with regret for the upcoming absence that was about to take place and a promise, written in long-fought-for faith and pledging return.

The difference in the shimmer she held for me and the one she held for Sonic was in the underlying emotion. The love was unconditional both ways, but within mine, there was a fondness and a sworn vow in that no matter how far the world fell away, we would forever find sanctuary and understanding in family. The look currently present possessed all the uncertainties of young love, though her level of faith and trust in him on that plane was unparalleled, except by his own.

"Yeah." His reply was quiet and he turned away with a pained expression on his face. "But, I promise that I'll keep in touch."

"You don't have to call twenty four-seven. A call every few days will suffice." I remained hesitant, fearful almost at what I had just realized, what destruction it could bring if failed.

"Oh, please, Shadow. We're not children. It's not necessary, Sonic, only if you have time." She was blushing, her cheeks becoming slightly pinkish.

"But, I just got you, you two, back. I'm not quite ready to lose you guys again." Sonic was still quiet, earnest in his statement, turning his eyes onto me to prove his sincerity.

"I'm sure we can all get back together once you return, maybe with more than just the three of us." I budged a little bit, awkwardly if anything.

"I don't see why not." Sonic grinned, pleased by my suggestion.

"Nor do I. We should do it. You can give us a call when you know for sure when you're coming back, that way we can plan." Swift appeared pleasantly surprised with me.

"It's settled then. We'll do it." Sonic lifted his bag up and pulled the strap over his shoulder, seeming somewhat unbalanced by the addition. "Well, I've got a plane to catch." He sighed softly

"Bye, Sonic." Swift's voice was almost a whimper. She went to him and wrapped her arms around him, Sonic following suit.

"Goodbye again, Swift. Thank you for going." She placed her head on his shoulder and he leaned closer to her ear. "I love you." He whispered almost inaudibly. Swift's eyes, turned golden-brown by the high amount of light filtering in through the windows at the top of the room, widened in shock.

"I… I love you, too." She cast a quick glance my way, asking permission when she really shouldn't be. I nodded my affirmation, then shaking my head. She gave him a small peck on the cheek, then pulled away, blushing fiercely now. I noted an increase in the white flashes, then another as I grabbed Sonic's hand.

"Take care, Sonic." I did my best to keep a remotely pleasant expression up.

"You too, Shadow." A sly simper crossed his face and I instantly began to pull away. However, he was faster, as usual, yanking me back and into a loose embrace. He let go after a second and I immediately retreated, giving him a threatening glare. "Pay back." He smirked in the face of my hostility, which faded at this.

"Okay, I deserved that." He began to move forward again, so I put up my hands and dodged out of the way. "Don't get used to it." I warned sharply. Sonic merely laughed.

"See you guys soon!" He gave a brief wave, his trademark grin, then took off back into the airport, taking half of the paparazzi with him. Swift sighed, a solemn smile crossing her muzzle.

"That's Sonic for you." I grinned, puling her to my side and putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Like the wind." She agreed.

"C'mon, Swift, let's go get some unhealthy crap-food." I looked down at her, into her golden-brown eyes, happily.

"You mean comfort-food." She was still smiling, though it was fading rapidly. "I might need some now."

"Aww, love sick, are we?" I asked teasingly, taking her bags and beginning to lead her outside.

"Yeah." Swift answered quietly, a little bit of hurt leaking into her tone. I struggled to find an appropriate response to this, as I was prepared for a denial, so I walked through the automatic doors and out into the bright Florida sunshine.

"Sounds like you really do need comfort-food." I finally managed, leading us to the Tahoe in the parking lot where they had left it. "What do you want?" I asked as I placed her bags in the backseat.

"Don't really care." Swift replied, easing herself into the passenger's seat, the happiness drained almost completely.

"How does Chick-fil-a sound?" I climbed in on the driver's side.

"Fine." She passed me the car keys. I jammed them into the ignition and cranked, then turned to face her.

"This is killing you."

"Maybe. It's just I…"

"Just got him back." I finished, staring her straight in the face. Swift looked away.

"It's scaring you, isn't it?" She hissed after a few moments.

"Well, yes, quite frankly." I turned back and shifted out of park, pulling out and turning us onto the highway. "But, I also know that having someone like that around makes you happy."

"You don't-."

"I do enjoy his company. He's a nice guy. Have you two even had mouth-to-mouth yet?" I asked, talking rapidly.

"Shadow!" She slapped me on the shoulder, a mortified look on her face.

"Answer the question, Swift." I insisted, scanning for an exit possessing the sweet chickeny goodness we craved.

"Yes! I've kissed him!" She snarled angrily, cheeks pink as blood rushed to them.

"There we go. The first step is admitting you have a problem." I laughed, pulling off and onto the exit ramp at successfully driving by a sign that boasted "Chick-fil-a Next Exit".

"What freaking problem?!" She exclaimed, turning towards me this time.

"Swift and Sonic sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G." I called in a sing-song voice, grinning deviously the whole time.

"Shadow! Stop it!" Swift groaned, hitting me again, though much more gently this time.

"Face it, you're in love. Now what do you want?" Still laughing, I pulled into the drive-thru line.

"Eight-count chicken nuggets meal with a Coke, and yeah, that might be the case."

"Oh, don't lie, Swift."

"Fine, Shadow! I love him!" Swift yelled, exasperated.

"Yeah, umm… One eight-count nugget meal with a Coke and one chicken sandwich meal." I turned to order, then pulled around to the window.

"Eight ninety-five." The woman at the window demanded. I passed her the money and she waved me on, so I obliged by pulling to the next window.

"Here's your order, sir. Have a nice day." A younger, much more pleasant, human handed us a bag and the two drinks.

"Thanks." I replied, taking the food and placing it in Swift's lap as I rolled up the window and drove back out.

"Well, of course you do. I'm glad you're finally admitting it."

"You're still afraid though."

"But, I know that, God-forbid, should anything happen to me, I would leave you in his care. I trust him, probably with my own life. You're just a little harder for me to give up." I cast her a wry grin, then turned back to the road. "Now, can I _please_ have my chicken sandwich?"

"Yeah, Shadow. Sure." She cracked a smile again and retrieved the goods.

**A/N: Prepare to enter some terrible times... XP Man, am I evil. XDD**


	11. Lighting

**A/N: And here. we. go...**

Chapter 11: Lighting

_2 weeks later…_

Today was the day; tonight was the night. He hadn't eaten all day; his stomach was a massive knot in his abdomen; his heart was in his throat.

"I think twenty men would have been enough." Cowbird muttered beside him from the passenger's seat, his voice barely heard because Yellow had turned up the radio to hear the weather reports.

"Jericho, shut your mouth. These two beings are potentially the two strongest in the entire world, maybe even the universe." Yellow snarled, keeping an iron grip on the steering wheel as he drove the Maxima into the brush.

"How did you… how did you know my name?" Cowbird choked on his own spit, touching one hand to his throat, the expression of fear on his face melted into the dark.

"Nicolae told me." Yellow answered simply.

"Oh."

"Chloroform ready?" He asked, continuing conversation as if Cowbird _wasn't_ writing in pain.

"Will be. Two rags are soaking." There was no inflection in his voice, monotone.

"Good." Yellow smirked, pleased. He yanked the vehicle to a stop deep with in the palms, at least twenty yards back from a small fire, around which sixty or so men were gathered, all varying in species of Mobian, but all male and all huge. Yellow couldn't help but giggle with pleasure and excitement as he sprang from the car.

"I don't know." Cowbird moaned softly, then climbed out as well.

Though it was full moon, all light was strangled by the oncoming mass of clouds as it advanced across the sky mercilessly. The radio still screamed warnings of the Category Three hurricane marching towards the coast. Landfall would take place in a matter of hours, potentially within the hour at this point. Lightning danced from cloud to cloud, still too far away to become cloud-to-ground, while thunder shredded the serenity of the beach.

"Boss?" A dog, pit-bull by the looks of him, took a step out of the group and addressed Yellow, a smirk playing at his lips.

"Is everything ready?"

"Yeah. On your orders."

"Now." Yellow's smirk was completely for another reason. Rather than just doing another job with a ton of pay as this dog was, Yellow was being paid to fulfill his fantasy, to act on his greatest obsession.

All sixty men gave whoops of excitement as they dashed off into their Jeeps. Only four remained, including the dog, to ride along with Yellow and Cowbird in the Maxima. With everyone hiding in the brush, surprise would be their main advantage, with support found in numbers. They would not fail simply because Yellow wouldn't allow it, not when they were so close to success.

"Her boyfriend ain't here?" One of the members inside the Maxima, a lynx, asked.

"No. He's in Russia by now." Cowbird answered quietly.

"It's too bad. Not even the greatest hero in the world can save them." Another responded.

"I find it more amusing that he won't be here to witness his girlfriend's fall from grace." The dog huffed, folding his arms over his chest.

"Boss predicts she'll fall even farther than that." Cowbird murmured, passing one rag to Yellow and the other to the dog.

"Now." Yellow muttered, taking hold of the rag and stepping out of the vehicle just as another pulled up into the driveway of the large beach house just beyond cover of the brush. The target car, 2001 black Chevy Tahoe.

Now… Now was the time. The time to end the resistance, to turn twilight into night, to tear them apart at the seams. But to start this fire, this hellish blaze that would bring the ruin dreamed up by Phoenix's highest powers to reality, one must light a match. And that one was standing just inside the shadows, silver eyes glinting in anticipation, yellow quills bristling, body tensed, and fist clenched around a chloroform-soaked rag.

**A/N: Now, the bloodshed begins. X33333**


	12. The Storm

Chapter 12: The Storm

Shadow

"And he just sort of jumped out of the way and started shouting "Naw, man, naw!". Swift was practically rolling in her seat, roaring at the story I was telling. "I swear, Swift, you would have _died_ laughing, it was so hysterical." Having a hard time keeping my own laughter under control, I pulled the Tahoe up into the driveway and kicked the parking brake down.

"N-no, Shadow, I believe you." She giggled, placing one navy hand on the door handle. She was glowing, absolutely stunning in the new mint green sundress I had purchased for her yesterday. I, on the other hand, found myself looking particularly handsome in the new tux. Rather than our Jet Shoes, we had gone all out, purchasing black dress shoes for myself and straw sandals for Swift.

"I'm glad we finally got around to the dinner." I stated, grinning as I removed the keys from the ignition.

"Me too." Swift agreed, sighing contentedly and pushing the car door open.

It was then that I finally detected the hostility on the air. It wasn't the tempest bearing down on us; Swift and I weren't overly concerned by that, otherwise, we'd have evacuated with the civilians. No, this was something else, something _mortal_.

"Swift-." I started urgently, about to ask if she felt the same thing, but was deftly silenced by two gunshots.

It was happening too fast, for once.

Suddenly tasting blood on my tongue, I looked down, struggling to comprehend through the thick blanket of shock now draped over me. Figures swarmed at my window, dragging me from the vehicle as one in particular, a canine, shoved a wet rag into my nostrils and mouth. Sucking in a sharp breath to protest, I found myself unable to breathe correctly. It was already too late, all hope of a struggle demolished as oxygen simply ebbed away from my brain. Horrific sounds of a struggle pounded in my ears beside my heartbeat, a battle drum. Desperately seeking answers, I clambered for the only thing that wasn't melting as the drug, which my nose defined out of no real scent as chloroform, took hold, Swift. Telepathy became near impossible, while speaking had already crossed that line. Words dissolved into emotions and, eventually, a mere presence as the world was ripped out from underneath us and we were washed away. Numb, but eyes darting, I had no idea where she was, feared for her with my life, shadows moving against the light projected by the headlamps on the car with vicious force. Finally, I managed to catch a glimpse of her as the black frame around my vision began to smother me. Staining her dress crimson, a puddle of blood beneath her began to grow rapidly as what looked like a yellow blob was on top of her, knees in her chest and hands pressing her arms to the concrete. Everything blurred, other than her.

_Weakpoint?_ I whimpered with what was, possibly, the last of my strength. She shifted, staring directly into my eyes from across the space underneath the car, and gave me an almost imperceptible nod. She hadn't stood a chance, even if she did struggle.

"Take him with us, wouldn't want him running off to get help." The dog spoke, sounding actually intelligent as compared to the whoops and hollers of the rest of the group. I refused to look, refused to tear my eyes from her as the light simply faded out of her caramel irises, bleak and fragile.

Her body was made of glass, captive. Laughing, the men began yanking me away, into the brush surrounding the house, I could only stare, watching as her cheeks became almost pale enough to see through.

Push her down, she breaks. And for some reason, I knew they would do just that.

* * *

Swift

_**GET UP!!!**_

_Why should I? _My reply came weakly, as if I was dead.

_**If you don't, he will die.**_

There was no comprehension in my mind, no inkling of what this voice was yelling about and had been yelling about for the past hour or so. There were no boundaries now, nothing, save for the pain. It enveloped all; it was everything at present. Drenched in red, all existence on the plane was marred by crimson taints. None could avoid it, though I had dodged like a thief in the night. I had done my best. But…

Best isn't good enough.

Even as good a bandit of time as I could not avoid the catch-up.

_**Get up! **_The same voice urged, sounding more concerned and softer this time.

Something pulled gently at my consciousness, pressed me back into definition. The pain followed, intensifying and localizing as bearings established themselves. As mind returned to body, feeling wormed its way back into slack limbs, detecting subtle pressure against skin, a frigid perception washing through like none I'd ever felt before. Tensed in shock and physical distress, my body simply refused to unwind, no matter how many commands I gave it to do so.

_**That's it, now just open your eyes. **_Female, I identified, familiar as well.

Fear. The 'what-if-I-do' reflex.

_**Find the will to.**_ The voice changed, masculine, yet calming. Fatherly, I recognized, as if I'd ever had a dad.

I obeyed, reaching for the surface of the purple-black sea of unconsciousness, clawing with a yearning I'd always possessed; digging deep to find it was not necessary. Managing the feat, vision restored to take in an almost-white, baby blue plane beneath which I lay. Perturbed, I stretched for the omnipresent out of instinct.

I didn't find him.

Panicked, I jerked into a seated position, immediately regretting the sudden movement as a dull throb, which I had previously ignored due to its miniscule size, erupted in an entirely new agony just below where a stomachache's epicenter would be located. Understanding escaped me, but I shoved that fact away as I pressed my hands to my eyes to clear the blur. A prickling paranoia began icing through my veins, unable to block it out. I shook my head, but it only increased the amount of dizziness pressing down.

It didn't matter, I wasn't the urgent problem at present.

Focus. It came with incredible effort. Finally, I succeeded in scraping black from what appeared to be white. Brining myself to my, now bare I noticed, feet was just as much an endeavor as seeing, receiving all sorts of protest from my legs and abdomen. I staggered towards the dark thing as scarlet streaks began to materialize upon it. Reeling, I collapsed, knees buckling just as I reached his side. Placing one hand on him, I instantly knew. The presence gave a feeble flutter against my mind at my touch, almost as if jump-started.

_Shadow._ Recognition was painful enough, but my head dropped to check him over anyway, a mistake. Abruptly, red was the only color I could see again, certainly blood as I ran my fingertips weakly through it. _No._

Decadence and self-loathing invaded every crevice of my brain and I felt my soul turn to ice. Searching for revelation, reasons, I put my hand in his, weary. I probed my memories of hours past, finding that I had none. There was simply a deep, dark void, a rift in my near-perfect recollections. This scared me.

_What kind of hell did I wake up to?_

Trembling, I truly believed my mind was playing tricks on me, the adept instrument now casting illusions of its own accord, lies in three lives present on the beach rather than two, among other things. Unable to discern reality from fantasy, fear flooded in to mingle with the paroxysm. A cry for help was torn from my throat in desperation, though there were honestly no ears to heed the call. None to hear my despairing and pathetic pleas as the world spiraled out of control, making me wonder if I had ever possessed any grip on it at all. Façade torn away, stripped down, and raw as newly opened flash, I had nowhere to hide from this, nowhere to go. Cries became screams, subconscious if anything, I was fading back out again. Oblivion would be better than this, incapable of even standing as my brother bled out, as my existence became even more of a problem. I had no clue as to what had happened, nothing to hold onto. With nothing else to do as my brain took into a headspin and all hope of standing died with that, I prayed. Prayed until my mind ran itself over with a steamroller and I fell prone, pressing my cheek into the sand.

To greet the dawn, to face the turning tide… Why did a miracle seem so far out of reach?

No one was coming, that much I knew. Who was the hero of the heroes anyway? That, I didn't.

I clung to my faith, my desperate belief that somehow it would all turn out alright, that God was here, even in this hell. The world was burning, turning away from the mistake it had always tried to wash its hands of, while I fell away into one of the only things that had never failed me, the dark.

Shadow

_Three days later…_

Three days had passed, three days since that night. Three days gone.

It had been three days since she'd last moved.

Swift was curled up on the now-bloodstained couch she'd been on for the past three days, trembling from what I didn't know. No matter how many blankets I placed carefully over her ravaged form, how long I wrapped my arms around her to stave off what I'd thought was cold, how much I pled with her to eat something, she remained in that same spot, shaking as if she was made of ice, but could still feel how frigid she was.

The instant I'd found consciousness again, she had sealed herself within her mind and nothing I did dropped her defenses. I cursed myself for never developing my own mental abilities as far as she had, otherwise I'd have found out what was wrong with her days ago. As far as I knew, no one had seen the two of us for days, no one helped heal our wounds. So I wondered, how did Swift manage to get me back here in her condition, whatever that may be?

I had bandaged her wounds, cleaned them, which proved somewhat challenging considering that Swift simply refused to move… Those injuries I could see, anyway. She'd already wrapped my own by the time I reawoke, completely ignoring hers as if they didn't matter, as if she didn't feel them. She did though; her eyes betrayed all, even if her expression read blank.

I had planted myself next to her on the couch again, trying the TV for the fifth time that day and heaving a pained sigh at the lack of electricity. Pressing my hands to my back, I groaned as I corrected my posture. Shot in the lower back, the both of us, which explained Swift's lack of resistance, at least. Aside from that, nothing else from that night could be defined. It was, quite frankly, impossible to decipher anything out of a bottomless abyss in my memory. And, from the way Swift was behaving, she didn't know either.

The second thing I did upon my awakening was attempt to get in touch with Sonic. My voice was frantic enough on the message I left him. He would get the picture.

I scooted over and hugged Swift's blood-soaked and shuddering body as close to me as I could. It was an uncomfortable side-embrace, but the only thing I could get out of the way she was sitting. As a direct result of what appeared to be beating, her body was swollen slightly, black and blue beneath black and blue. I couldn't imagine. The only reason I was not searching the kitchen for a steak knife to cut my heart out with was Swift. My failure to protect her raked against the inside of my head incessantly, almost never ending. It felt like my fault, as if I had been the one to beat her senseless, rather than those-.

I clipped my line of thought. In spite of the fact that I could feel nothing from her, aside from the light brush of our minds occasionally to insure we were still there, she could feel everything from me. I refused to hide behind my mask, not now. To conceal myself would discourage her from ever coming out of her shell again. And I wanted her to come back to me.

When I clawed my way back to life, I still had on the tuxedo from that night, though it was torn practically to shreds. Swift, though, was bare. It wasn't something I was typically concerned by. In fact, it had never bothered me. But knowing that she was wearing a dress that night and that she was completely stripped when I awoke was unnerving. No shoes, no locking cuffs, no nothing. The only other time I'd seen her like that was when she was a child, aboard the ARK. Swift still _seemed _like a child to me, my baby sister. God only knew how hard she'd fallen.

I had long since thrown the tux away, replacing my Jet Shoes and trying to carry on with some sense of normalcy, despite my complete fiasco, but that proved impossible as well. I sucked in a sharp breath, trying to keep my composure. With this inhalation came another puzzling factor; Swift's scent had changed. The peppermint was gone…

Abruptly, Swift made her first move in three days, reaching up and placing both hands on the arm I held around her front. She held that position hesitantly, her expression actually freeing up to show fear slicing across her face.

"Swift?" I whispered her name, pressing my head gently to her temple briefly. Her head slowly tilted up to lock eyes with me, then to almost instantly look down again. "It's okay; I'm here." The shaking intensified, breaking me down as if I was a building on wet ground when an earthquake hit. "I… I-I'm sorry… so, so, sorry, Swift." I choked on sobs, trying despairingly to hold myself together, not to cry. But, I could feel it, something was missing from her heart. No matter how hard she tried to keep me out, I felt that much. And it wasn't just some little thing either.

After what felt like a few minutes, Swift started trying to ease out of my grip, removing her hands from my arm. So, I released her, gazing questioningly at her. She pushed herself to her feet, swaying a bit once she got there, spine rigid in what appeared to be pain.

"You alright?" I lurched upright, ready to catch her. She managed to steady herself without my help, glancing over at me once she was oriented. Wiping at my eyes, I felt the kindling of hope from my soul. Swift lifted her left arm and pointed at the bathroom door, looking back at me with the question "Did the storm destroy it?" in her eyes. I shook my head vigorously, happy to have her communicating with me again. She blinked, then strode cautiously inside, poking her head back out just as she was about to shut the door. "Okay." I couldn't help but smile, even if it was a weak and sad grin. She blinked again, then disappeared inside, shutting and locking the door. I could have cried for joy, but I really didn't get around to it before the doorbell rang and someone banged hard on the front door several times. Regardless, I listened, hearing the water turn on in the bathroom. Afterwards, I quickly dashed down to Swift's bedroom, retrieved her Jet Shoes and locking cuffs from her dresser, and shot back up to place them on the couch where she'd been, considering she'd possibly want to return there. Then, I rushed to the front door, feeling my body tense defensively. Stopping just before I opened it, I gathered myself in preparation of meeting someone not-so-pleasant. I flung the door open, almost shocked at the cobalt hedgehog standing on the front porch.

"Sonic." I said his name incredulously.

"What's wrong? What happened? Where's Swift?" His face darkened in worry, green eyes flickering in anxiety, trying to shove past me to get inside. I exhaled sharply at his use of force, holding him outside without using my hands. He immediately ceased, eyes going to the bandage around my middle.

"Take it easy." I hissed through gritted teeth, wincing in pain. Sonic cast me an apologetic grimace. "I don't think now's the best time…" I looked over my shoulder briefly, then stepped outside and shut the front door behind me.

"What. Happened?" Sonic asked, more slowly this time.

"I'll tell you everything I know…" I said.

And I did.

Thirty minutes later, I finally allowed a more-severely-concerned Sonic into the house. The expression on his face was of one absolutely mortified and remained that way. As I led the way back to the living room, I did not detect the sound of running water. Swift's shoes and cuffs were gone from the spot I'd left them as well, so I assumed that she was wandering the house. Reaching for her in my mind turned up the usual, blocked out. I prodded at her defenses, abruptly detecting a weakness. Swift's wall wavered, then crashed to the ground.

_No._ I fell to my knees, incapable of hearing Sonic's "are-you-okay"s. _Why?_ Swift did not reply, save for gathering up the debris of her shattered barrier.

"Shadow!" He was shaking me now, hands on my shoulders.

"S-she's gone." I whimpered, unable to help myself.

"What?" Sonic released me, dumbfounded. "**SWIFT!**" He screamed, rushing off to find her.

"**No!** She's already gone too far! There's no way to catch her; not even you can." I leapt up and slammed him into the wall, holding him there.

"Let me **go.**" He snarled, furious.

"She's almost just as fast as you, Sonic. Even if you ran after her, you wouldn't catch her for an eternity." I released him, as told, heading for the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" He seemed calmer, speaking after several minutes. Swift had repaired her wall. She was too far to get a mental connection, anyway, but now her location was cut off too.

"Reasons." I muttered, practically tearing away at the bathroom.

"And where do you find those?" Sonic pressed, leaning against the doorframe and holding his head in his hands.

"Hopefully, since this was the last place I saw her go, she'll have left something behind to explain this." I had to find her motives, to figure out what drove her to this point. Unexpectedly, the doorbell rang, yet again, causing the both of us to look up in alarm.

"I'll get it." He hissed, leaving the doorway and walking off down the hall. I kept watching the place he'd been standing for a few seconds, then jerked my head back down, ears erect in search of this new visitor. Arguments quickly came out of hushed conversation, allowing me to identify this new being as Jericho, as I had heard his voice while observing in Swift's head. However, all words became unintelligible as my eyes caught on something in the trashcan neighboring the toilet.

"What…?" I muttered to myself, digging it out with care. It finally registered as I managed to uncover it; the answer staring me straight in the face as shock ripped through my body. And this explanation came in the form of the blue smilie face from hell.

Jericho

_One month later…_

Rain poured relentlessly from the sky. At this point, I didn't bother pushing the hunter green quills out from in front of my eyes. Not like it mattered anyway. The streets of Tokyo were a promenade of shadow and light. Sight and seeing were two different things, especially considering that it was also sometime around midnight. Despite that this was Tokyo, Japan, few beside myself roamed the typically bustling boulevards. Time usually didn't exist here. Someone like me would normally be uncomfortable in the environment presented, but I wallered in it. I wasn't the norm, though, either. Neon ran through the veins of this silicon body. I was made for the city life. I flowed seamlessly through, invisible against the steel and brick.

Shadows played shapes in the corners light chased it to. In spite of what I was told, I searched here, for here I could do better than I could anywhere else. This was my home. And, as my home, I knew it better than anywhere else on the planet. Cities were simply where I belonged.

Every alleyway and every storm-drain appeared to be an option, no matter how much I wished they weren't. I knew this was my fault. Guilt wasn't even the biggest motivator in this case, just my desperation to get Swift home safely. Things were looking bleak though. A month missing couldn't mean anything good…

I trudged along, keeping my head down to prevent my golden eyes from attracting any attention or otherwise. A frown settled itself on my lips as I anguished from within. My shirt stuck to my body, already tight, but now pressing water into the fur beneath, and I pulled my jacket closer. I ignored this and continued on, casting glances into the dark whenever I could.

Abruptly, movement caught my eye from an alleyway. Rather than dismissing it as rain pounding into a puddle, I felt compelled to check, discovering a small group of people huddled around something, jeering and muttering things. I cocked my head in confusion, such things seemed out of place, and so I deviated from my path. Blinking into the rain, I peered forward, picking shapes out of the black. One caught sight of me, yelping something to the others, and they all rushed off out of the alley the opposite way I was coming, leaving a small heap on the ground in their wake. It was unbetraying in figure; it could have been anything. Still, I bent down next to it, prodding the dark thing gently, feeling fur beneath my fingertips. Fear pressed against the insides of my head, and I gently laid my hand on the being's side.

"H-hey. Are you okay?" I asked, carefully pushing on it with the intention of rolling it over to examine it. A groan came from it, familiar in sound, almost like… "Swift?!" My voice was shrill, but still low in volume.

"J-jer… Get out of here." She whispered, pushing herself up and leaning back against the wall, face illuminated by a nearby neon light.

"N-no! I came here to find you." I explained, placing an arm around her shoulders as I sat down beside her.

"What if I didn't want to be found?" Her reply was quiet, wounded.

"You know as much as I do that that's a lie." I pulled her close, not really willing to believe the words she spoke. Swift started to scoot further from me, when I spoke up again. "We know, Swift." She stopped, eyes dead. I looked down, at her stomach, where a small lump was beginning to form.

"All the more reason to make sure they don't ever have to see my pathetic face again." She hissed, gritting her teeth, pain written on her expression.

"Swift, you can't fall like you did the last time." My voice suddenly quieted, and Swift froze. "You fell when you ran from Jet. If you run now, from Sonic, you'll fall again. And you'll break."

"You don't-." Her tone turned abruptly angry and defensive. I silenced her deftly, which surprised even myself.

"You've come too far from that to just let this go, Swift. Don't make the same mistakes." As much as I didn't want to be making this speech to her, I forced myself to, keeping my eyes firmly on hers. "Don't go out the same way."

"Jericho, I'm damaged goods."

"Sonic wouldn't care. I know he wouldn't. He loves you with all of his heart and would love you no matter what." Why did the words burn like acid on my tongue? "I swear, you're like your own worst enemy. The only times you've ever been even close to defeat, that I've seen, have been when you're fighting with yourself."

"Wh-?"

"And, don't get me wrong, you are a pretty good fighter, even when you're fighting with yourself." I continued, trying to laugh, but it caught halfway up my throat. I coughed instead, attempting to mask my sorry go at lightening the mood. We remained silent for a long while, rain falling gently onto our heads as we merely sat, unresisting. Eventually, Swift's shivers began to shake through me as well. I wondered why it was her that was taking the fall for this, for my mistake. I should have thought it through; I should have remembered her strength. Surely Ace couldn't have killed her, as he and the leader behind him had threatened. Swift was stronger than him, I was sure. Why my thoughts had not traversed to that before, I didn't know. I mentally killed myself a thousand times over. This was my entire fault. That thought shook me to the core.

"I… I just don't know how it all fell away so fast…" Swift looked over at me, drops of rain running down her cheeks like tears.

"It'll be okay." I choked, the expression on her face yanking at my heartstrings. "So, you'll go back with me?" I pulled my jacket off, placing it over her shoulders. She tugged it around her, nodding briefly. I stood, helping her to her feet as the storm seemed to let up a bit. Easing her into a hug, I wrapped my arms around her as her body began to shake with sobs. Swift buried her face into my shoulder and remained there for a few moments. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so very sorry, Swift." I muttered as I swayed slightly, closing my eyes tight and holding her against me. She didn't answer, save for releasing me after a few seconds and taking hold of my hand.

"I'll go." Her voice was quiet, vulnerable.

"Okay." I managed a small smile, and then began to lead the way back to home.

Sonic

The sun was beginning to set on yet another day. Storm clouds gathered on the horizon, but weren't going to be much of a problem. The warmth of the sun would die and leave the cold to smother them before they would be able to form anything threatening. I sat on the beach, a good distance from the ocean, just watching everything around me, and then again, not really there. Absent, my eyes merely picked a spot and stayed there. Farther up the beach, to my right, Shadow stood atop a dune, expression perhaps even more bleak than my own. Devastation was the one word that could possibly describe the aftermath of this.

Another family torn. And for what?

Shadow and Swift were simply the two most together people I had ever known, the two who moved in perfect sync and who balanced each other with unparalleled… being. The fact that even they were struck by this division tore me down even further. In all my life, I didn't think that I had ever experienced something so destructive. All I wanted was for Swift to come back home. At least to Shadow, if she could not to me. All I wanted was to tell her that I didn't care. Raped and beaten or not, I loved her. I longed with every part of my being to tell her those three words just one more time.

The sun touched down on the ocean's surface, igniting the sky in a brilliant pallet of color and light. I choked, struggling to comprehend.

Why here? Why now, when everything was coming back together? Now, it was falling to pieces…

Bringing my hands to my eyes, I refused to look upon the scene anymore. She would have enjoyed it as much I as I used to.

Another day of searching desperately, gone. Nothing. There was simply no trail to follow, no one to ask if they'd seen her. She was gone without a trace. And yet, we refused to stop looking, nothing would make us. Worry, frustration, and anxiety dominated every part of me. She was alone. That much was enough to make me want to tear out my own heart. Combine that with pregnant…

I wanted to scream, to run around and fling myself off the nearest cliff, get back up and run out in front of a bus… or a train. Whichever was closest. My heart stuttered weakly against my rib cage. A part of it felt missing, dead. I bleakly allowed my eyes to open again, watching the tide go out slowly. Sighing, not willing to accept defeat as the sun slipped beneath the ocean, I pulled my knees to my chest, shuddering as a cool wind washed over me.

"Come home… please…" I looked to the sky, observing the first star to come out of the growing darkness, shining brighter as the seconds passed. Twilight fell heavily, seeming to remain suspended as actual night would not come just yet. I was just as trapped in limbo here, it appeared. I twisted my head to the side, not wanting to look on it any longer. Breath caught in my throat and my heart stopped. My eyes grew wide as they took in the sight. Two figures approached up the beach, not one, but two. _Two. _I knew one like the back of my hand, memorized and burned into my retinas, it seemed.

Subconsciously aware of what I was doing, I rose to my feet, angling my body towards the two, squinting to confirm what my heart already knew. An incomprehensible cry of joy escaped me and I dashed towards her, barely able to slow enough to safely envelop her in a hug.

"Swift." I sighed, happy that she was in my arms again.

"Sonic." Swift put her arms around my neck and clung to me as if she would never let go. And I didn't want her to. I wanted to hold her there forever.

"I missed you… so much." She pressed her face against my shoulder, shaking slightly. So, I merely held her tighter, the rest of the world falling away aside from her.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She was crying, voice muffled slightly by my fur, liquid diamonds finding purchase where her head lay. Swift removed her arms from around me and simply allowed me to hold her there.

"No! It isn't your fault…" I bit my lip, closing my eyes and just breathing her in. "I want you to know something, okay?" I held Swift out at arm's length, staring straight into her broken irises.

"Okay." She tried to smile, despite it all, but it cracked before it could live.

"You're never alone, Swift." I whispered, watching her expression twist in pain. "Do you hear me? Never! I won't let you." Swift started to go limp, but I gave her a slight shake. "Never!" I pulled her in close again, breaths heavy as my heart reactivated, on wings, high. "And if I die-." She shook violently at that thought, but I continued. "Your brother won't let you be either." I finally tore my eyes from her, looking over my shoulder at Shadow. His muzzle was dark in a frown, but his crimson-bronze eyes shone as he locked them with me. I heaved a sigh in content, feeling restored. Light. Even in the dark. Light. I cast a glance Jericho's way. He stood off to the side, away, appearing to be struggling. I mouthed "thank you" to him, though words could not describe the appreciation for how he had tried to repair the burning bridges. It would take more than this for me to fully accept though… I didn't think I could look at him as I had before. I ignored this, shutting the thought down and returning to the most important thing. "You understand?" I felt her nod, sobs no longer silent.

"I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I-I l-love you."

"What?" Dumbstruck, I held her away from me again.

"I-I love you." She repeated softly, gazing blearily at me through tears.

"I love you, too." I replied, breathless.

"Don't let me go." Swift whispered, barely audible for the blood rushing past my ears.

"Okay. I won't." I answered, disbelieving of it all. And I finally realized it all. Even though we were falling, we were being uplifted literally at the same time, stretched to prove our limits. When all others would simply fall, we would not let go, we would fall in order to rise against whatever the future held. "Where did this go wrong? And how to us?" I asked, sheer out of disorientation. This gravity was mind-boggling.

"If there was nothing wrong… Well, there'd be nothing right, either." Swift answered quietly, managing a smile through the tears. I could not find the voice to respond. My heart threatened to shatter my rib cage as I merely pressed her closer, hoping that one day, the damages from the fall could be repaired and the broken wings could heal to allow for the rise to a better tomorrow, through the dark, and into the light.

**A/N: One year and a week ago, _Falling Up_ was born. Over that time, it's twisted fate's strings for the upcoming... Thank you to everyone who's held on this long, and trust me, you won't have long to wait for the next installment, though what I'm calling it has yet to be decided.  
So yeah, I'm a terrible person to my fancharacters... AND IT'S ALL FOR MY ENJOYMENT XDDDDDD. And, yours, as well. lol. I'm so going to hell. jk  
I promise, the action greatly increases in the following sequal... s. Yes, more than one. XD A playlist is in development for this one, so I'll be sure to post it once I'm done...  
Once again, thank you all for your support. Until next time... Wow, I haven't done this in a while... **

**-When darkness falls, heroes will rise-  
-Swift-**


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